BX  5145    .G9  1917 
Gwynne,  Walker,  1845-1931 
Primitive  worship  &  the 
prayer  book 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2015 


https://archive.org/details/primitiveworshipOOgwyn_0 


A 


PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP 
y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


» 


BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR 


The  Christian  Year,  Its  Purpose  and  Its 
History.  Introductory  to  the  present 
volume.  ist  Thousand 

Manual  of  Christian  Doctrine.  Intro- 
duction by  Dean  Church.  In  four  grades, 
for  Senior,  Middle,  Junior,  and  Primary 
Classes.  &6oth  Thousand 

The  Gospel  in  the  Old  Testament.  In 
four  grades,  with  Illustrations. 

6$th  Thousand 

The  Gospel  in  the  New  Testament.  In 

four  grades,  with  Illustrations. 

246^  Thousand 
The  Gospel  in  the  Church.  Introduction 

by  the  Bishop  of  London.    In  four  grades. 

With  Halftone  Illustrations.  52^  Thousand 
Confirmation  and  the  Way  of  Life.  For 

Confirmation  Classes.  i^th  Thousand 
Some  Purposes  of  Paradise.    On  the  Life 

between  Death  and  Resurrection. 

2d  Thousand 

Seven  Hundred  Stories  and  Illustra- 
tions of  Christian  Doctrine. 

3<f  Thousand 


Plan  of  a  Church  in  the  reign  of  Constantine,  the  first  Christian 
Emperor  (a.d.  306-337),  as  described  by  the  historian  Eusebius 
(a.d.  266-340),  and  other  early  Christian  writers.  The  chief 
features  are  those  of  the  Cathedral  Church  of  Tyre,  ereded  in 
a.d.  314.    For  further  description  see  pages  40,  41,  42,  54,  and  55. 


PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP 
&>  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


RATIONALE,  HISTORY,  AND  DOCTRINE  OF  THE 
ENGLISH,  IRISH,  SCOTTISH,  AND  AMERICAN  BOOKS 

(     OCT  3  1917  } 


BY 


THE  REV.  WALKER  GWYNNE,  D.D. 

AUTHOR  OF  "THE  CHRISTIAN  YEAR,  ITS  PURPOSE  AND 
ITS   HISTORY,"  "THE   GOSPEL   IN   THE  CHURCH,"  etc. 


LONGMANS,   GREEN  AND  CO. 

FOURTH  AVENUE  fef  30th  STREET,  NEW  YORK 
39    PATERNOSTER    ROW,  LONDON 
BOMBAY,  CALCUTTA,  AND  MADRAS 
1917 


COPYRIGHT,  I917 
BY    LONGMANS,   GREEN   AND  CO. 


TO  THE  BELOVED  MEMORY  OF 
TWO  BISHOPS  OF  THE  HOLY  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 
BOTH  ORATORS,  POETS,  AND  DEFENDERS  OF  THE  FAITH 

WILLIAM  ALEXANDER 
Archbishop  of  Armagh  and  Primate  of  All  Ireland 

ONE   HUNDRED   AND   NINTH    IN   THE    SUCCESSION    OF  THE 
SEE  OF  S.  PATRICK 
WHOSE  VOICE  DID  GREAT  THINGS  FOR  THE  CHURCH  IN 
PERILOUS  TIMES 
TO  WHOM  ALSO  THE  AUTHOR  AS  CHILD  AND  MAN   OWES  A 
DEEP  SPIRITUAL  DEBT:  AND 

WILLIAM  CROSWELL  DOANE 
First  Bishop  of  Albany 

FROM   WHOM  UNDER  GOD  HE  RECEIVED  THE  SACRED  ORDER 
OF  PRIESTHOOD  AND  MUCH  BESIDES 
THIS  VOLUME  ON  THE  BOOK  OF  THEIR  DEVOTION  AND 
LOVING  LOYALTY  IS  AFFECTIONATELY  DEDICATED 


PREFACE 


AN  apology  may  seem  to  be  needed  for  another  manual 
on  Church  Worship.  It  is  evident,  however,  to  any 
one  who  takes  up  the  serious  study  of  the  Prayer  Book, 
which,  next  to  the  English  Bible,  is  the  greatest  classic  in 
the  language,  that  in  almost  every  volume  on  the  subject 
the  rationale,  and  the  authority  of  Holy  Scripture  and  the 
Primitive  Church  have  been  assumed,  or  else  almost  wholly 
overlooked.  Nevertheless,  in  the  vast  majority  of  cases, 
not  only  among  converts  to  the  Church's  ways,  but  among 
intelligent  laymen,  Churchmen  by  tradition,  the  first  and 
most  important  things  to  know  are  why  we  use  a  book  of 
worship  at  all,  and  on  what  fundamental  principles,  apart 
from  mere  aesthetic  or  personal  preference,  the  volume 
which  we  call  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  and  "our  in- 
comparable Liturgy,"  is  based. 

It  is  greatly  to  the  honor  of  the  English  Church  that  she 
has  had  so  many  and  so  able  liturgical  scholars  who,  for  the 
last  three  centuries,  have  created  a  new  field  of  theological 
study.  The  object  of  the  present  volume  is  to  utilize  this 
vast  store  of  buried  learning,  so  that  the  general  reader,  as 
well  as  teacher  and  candidate  for  Holy  Orders,  may  have  a 
book  of  modest  dimensions  that  will  give  a  bird's-eye  view 
of  the  subject.  To  the  student  it  may  serve  as  an  intro- 
duction to  a  more  exact  study  later  on  of  those  treasures  of 
devotion  which,  in  all  ages  of  the  Church,  and  in  many 
tongues,  have  been  the  censers  on  which  have  been  laid  the 
heart  thoughts  and  petitions  of  martyrs  and  saints,  and  those 
myriads  of  unnamed  servants  of  our  Lord  who  are  now  with 
Him  in  Paradise. 


Vlll 


PREFACE 


In  addition  to  tracing  the  origin  and  development  of 
Christian  worship  to  its  present  form  for  English-speaking 
people,  the  author  has  had  one  other  object  in  view  in  the 
preparation  of  this  volume.  The  Book  of  Common  Prayer 
represents  from  age  to  age  the  living  voice  of  the  Church,  the 
Ecclesia  docens,  as  interpreting  and  witnessing  to  us  "the 
mind  of  Christ,',  and  the  doctrine  and  practice  of  His  Apos- 
tolic master  builders.  And  so  it  is  continually  asked,  What 
does  the  Prayer  Book  teach  ?  or  rather,  What  does  the  Church 
teach  by  means  of  her  Prayer  Book?  Nevertheless  it  is  true 
today,  as  it  was  true  in  1823,  when  Bishop  Brownell  of  Con- 
necticut in  the  Preface  to  his  "Family  Prayer  Book,  with 
Commentary,',  etc.,  declared  his  "persuasion  that  many  who 
habitually  use  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  have  a  very  im- 
perfect appreciation  of  the  full  import  of  its  several  Offices." 

To  make  plain,  then,  what  the  Church  teaches,  from  the 
words  of  her  own  formularies,  from  her  traditional  customs 
and  ways,  and  her  interpretation  of  Holy  Scripture,  is  a 
most  necessary  object  when  discordant  voices  in  diverse 
directions  are  claiming  authority  for  their  own  ideas  as  to 
what  the  Church  stands  for,  and  is,  or  should  be.  "To  the 
law  and  the  testimony"  in  this  authoritative  volume,  there- 
fore, let  our  appeal  be,  in  accordance  with  our  Lord's  com- 
mand to  "Hear  the  Church."  Lex  orandi,  lex  credendi  is 
still  her  wise  rule,  and  happily  the  teaching  of  her  manual 
of  devotion  is  so  unmistakable,  that  it  only  needs  a  little 
painstaking  examination  to  learn  what  this  is  on  every  mat- 
ter of  fundamental  importance.  "Church  Doctrine  Bible 
Truth"  was  the  pithy  title  of  a  small  but  great  book  by 
Prebendary  Sadler  some  fifty  years  ago,  and  the  Church 
speaks  here  so  clearly  that  a  thoughtful  writer  can  well 
say:  "The  honest  and  careful  study  of  the  Book  has  invaii- 
ably  led  either  to  the  adoption  of  its  teaching,  or  to  a  desire 


PREFACE 


ix 


that  the  Book  itself  should  be  changed;  a  sufficiently  plain 
admission  by  both  parties  that  its  meaning  is  clear,  if  men 
will  only  take  the  trouble  to  discover  it." 1 

The  preparation  of  the  present  book  has  grown  out  of 
circumstances  similar  to  those  which  occasioned  the  writing 
of  the  companion  volume  on  The  Christian  Tear:  Its  Purpose 
and  its  History.  The  author  was  asked  to  teach  the  subject 
of  Church  Worship  in  the  Newark  Diocesan  Training  School, 
and  he  could  find  no  manual  adapted  to  the  needs  of  his 
pupils.  Of  learned  treatises  there  were  abundance,  and  also 
of  elementary  books  dealing  in  a  very  cursory  way  with  the 
subject.  But  the  learned  treatises  were  dry  and  unattract- 
ive to  all  but  liturgical  students,  and  the  others  were  lacking 
in  fulness  and  breadth  of  treatment.  The  author  can  only 
appeal  to  the  judgment  of  those  for  whom  the  book  is  pri- 
marily intended,  and  of  that  larger  class  of  general  readers 
to  whom  the  subject  may  prove  of  interest,  as  to  whether 
he  has  succeeded  in  his  aim  or  not. 

For  the  benefit  of  those  who  may  desire  to  pursue  their 
studies  further,  or  to  verify  the  positions  taken  in  the  book, 
he  gives  here  the  following  list  of  helpful  works  in  English: 

Barry,  Bp.,  Teacher  s  Prayer  Book;  Benton,  Catalogue  of 
Prayer  Books  in  the  Collection  of  the  Author  (Boston,  U.S., 
1910);  Bingham,  Antiq.,  Books  X-XV;  Blunt,  Ann.  Prayer 
Bk.;  Bright,  Ancient  Collects;  Brightman,  The  English  Rite; 
Burbidge,  Liturgies  and  Offices  of  the  Church;  Cardwell, 
History  of  Conferences;  Cyril,  Saint,  Catechetical  Lectures, 
XXII,  XXIII  (Oxford,  1838);  Daniel,  The  Prayer  Book, 
its  History,  etc.;  Dearmer,  Parsons  Hand  Book;  Dowden, 
Studies  in  the  Prayer  Book,  and  The  Workmanship  of  the 
Prayer  Book;  Duchesne,  Christian  Worship,  its  Origin  and 
Evolution  (trans,  of  Origines  du  cuke  chretien,  London,  S. 
P.C.K.  1912);  Ffoulkes,  Prim.  Consecration  of  Euch.  Oblation; 

1  J.  S.  B.  Monsell,  Preface  to  Our  New  Vicar. 


X 


PREFACE 


Freeman,  Prin.  Div.  Ser.;  Frere,  Principles  of  Religious 
Ceremonial,  and  Some  Principles  of  Lit.  Reform  (see  also 
Procter  and  Frere);  Gasquet  and  Bishop,  Edward  VI  and 
the  Book  of  Comm.  Pr.;  Gummey,  The  Consecration  of  the 
Eucharist;  Hammond,  Liturgies  Eastern  and  Western;  Hart, 
Book  of  Comm.  Pr.  (American);  Heurtley,  Harmonia  Sym- 
bolic a;  Hooker,  Ecc.  Pol.,  Book  V,  chapters  xxiii-lxxv;  Legg, 
Cranmers  Liturgical  Projects;  L'Estrange,  Alliance  of  Divine 
Offices;  Linklater,  True  Limits  of  Ritual  in  the  Church; 
Luckock,  Studies  in  the  Pr.  Bk.,  and  The  Divine  Liturgy; 
McGarvey,  Liturgiae  Americanae;  Maclean,  Early  Christian 
Worship;  Maskell,  Ancient  Liturgy  of  the  Ch.  of  Eng., 
and  Monumenta  Rit.  Ecc.  Anglicanae;  Moberly,  Minis- 
terial Priesthood;  Neale,  Essays  on  Liturgiology ;  Neale  and 
Littledale,  Commentary  on  the  Psalms  (Liturgical,  Mystical, 
and  Messianic),  and  Translations  of  the  Prim.  Liturgies; 
Palmer,  Origines  Lit.',  Prayer  Books,  First  and  Second  of 
Edward  VI.  (Everyman's  Lib.);  Prayer  Book  Commentary 
(S.P.C.K.);  Procter  and  Frere,  New  His.  Bk.  Comm.  Pr., 
1907;  Pullan,  His.  Bk.  Com.  Pr.-,  Scudamore,  Notitia 
Euch.;  Staley,  Liturgical  Studies;  Warren,  Lit.  Ante-Nicene 
Church,  Lit.  of  Celtic  Church,  and  The  Sarum  Missal  in 
English;  Wheatly,  Rational  Illustration  of  Bk.  Comm.  Pr.; 
Wordsworth  and  Littlehales,  The  Old  Service  Books  of  the 
English  Church  (1904). 

The  author  would  record  his  appreciation  of  helpful  sug- 
gestions given  him  by  the  Right  Rev.  A.  C.  A.  Hall,  D.D., 
Bishop  of  Vermont,  and  of  valuable  assistance  in  the  article 
on  "Music  in  the  Church "  by  the  Rev.  Charles  Winfred 
Douglas,  though  without  committing  either  of  these  friends 
to  all  that  he  has  written.  To  Mr.  H.  H.  Wheeler, 
Member  of  the  American  Institute  of  Architects,  he  is 
deeply  indebted  for  his  most  painstaking  work  in  drawing 
the  ground-plan  of  a  typical  church  of  the  early  fourth 
century,  based  on  the  descriptions  of  the  Church  historian, 
Eusebius  (a.d.  266-340),  and  other  primitive  writers. 

Summit,  N.J.,  Lent,  1917. 


CONTENTS 


PART  I.  —  Rationale  and  History 

CHAPTER 

I.  —  Practical  Reasons  for  a  Liturgy  

"The  Prayer  Book."  —  Mr.  Gladstone  and  "Many  Im- 
provements."—  Baxter's  Prayer  Book  Made  in  a  Fort- 
night.—  Necessity  for  a  Book  of  "Common"  Prayer. — 
Change  of  Mind  among  Descendants  of  Puritans.  —  Pro- 
fessor Hopkins  on  a  Liturgy  for  American  Presbyterians. 
—  "The  Book  of  Common  Worship"  Published  in  1906. — 
Increasing  Observance  of  the  Christian  Year.  —  Liturgic 
Usage  a  Heritage  from  Israel.  —  Necessary  for  Protec- 
tion from  Irreverence,  Eccentricity,  Incompetence,  and 
Error.  —  How  Congregationalists  or  Independents,  and 
Presbyterians  Became  Unitarians.  —  Dr.  W.  R.  Hunting- 
ton on  Form  and  Ceremony. 

II.  —  The  Authority  of  our  Lord  and  the  Holy 

Scriptures  for  a  Liturgy  

Evidence  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  of  the  Church  of  Israel 
in  the  Time  of  Our  Lord. —  His  "Custom"  as  Child  and 
Man.  —  Dr.  Edersheim  on  the  Synagogue  Service  in 
Nazareth,  and  the  Burning  of  Incense  in  the  Temple.  — 
Our  Lord's  Precepts  Concerning  Prayer. 

III.  —  "They    Continued    Stedfastly    in  the 

Prayers "   

The  Apostles  Devout  Worshippers  in  Synagogue  and  Temple 
even  after  the  Setting  up  of  the  Church.  —  No  Lack  of 
Material  for  a  Christian  Liturgy.  —  "Common  Prayer" 
in  Acts  iv.  —  Allusions  to  Christian  Worship.  —  Probable 


Xll 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 


PAGE 


Quotations  from  Early  Christian  Liturgy  and  Hymns,  in 
the  Epistles.  —  No  Full  Account  to  be  Expected  in  the 
New  Testament.  —  Forms  not  in  Themselves  Prayers,  but 
Vessels  to  be  Filled  with  Prayer. 

IV.  —  "They  Continued  Stedfastly  in  the  Break- 


The  Breaking  of  Bread  the  One  Act  of  Worship  Ordained 
by  Christ.  —  Five  Words  Applied  to  the  Sacrament  in  the 
New  Testament.  —  i.  The  Breaking  of  Bread.  —  2.  The 
Lord's  Supper.  —  3.  The  Eucharist.  —  4.  Holy  Com- 
munion.  5.   "EULOGIA,"  OR  THE  BLESSING.  A  NEW  RlTE, 

but  the  Fulfilment  of  an  Older  One.  —  The  Change  Pre- 
pared for  by  Our  Lord  in  S.  John  vi.  —  Instituted  at  the 
Last  Passover,  and  with  the  Elements  Employed  there. 
—  Becomes  at  Once  the  "Daily"  Act  of  Worship  in  the 
Apostolic  Church. 

V.  —  Christian  Worship  in  the  First  Three  Cen- 


All  Worship  in  the  First  Three  Centuries  Gathers  around 
the  Holy  Eucharist.  —  The  Altar  or  Holy  Table.  —  The 
Temple  and  not  the  Synagogue  the  Model.  —  Canon 
Warren  on  the  Character  of  the  Synagogue.  —  Our  Lord's 
Language  at  the  Cleansing  of  the  Temple.  —  The  Sacri- 
ficial Character  of  Christian  Worship.  —  The  Puritan 
Baxter  on  the  Word  Altar.  —  The  Evidence  of  the 
Younger  Pliny,  Justin  Martyr,  the  Didache,  or  Doctrine 
of  the  Apostles,  and  of  Clement  of  Rome.  —  Reasons 
for  the  Absence  of  Early  Written  Liturgies.  —  The 
Disciplina  Arcani.  —  Reasons  for  Lack  of  References 
to  Church  Buildings.  —  Earliest  Accounts  in  the  Third 
and  Fourth  Centuries. 


ing  of  the  Bread 


3i 


TURIES 


40 


VI.  —  The  Parent  Liturgies   56 

Little  Development  of  Worship  while  the  Church  is  under 
the  Ban  of  the  Empire.  —  In  the  Fourth  Century  Six  Chief 


CONTENTS  xiii 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

Liturgical  Types.  —  The  Syrian  Used  in  the  Patriarchates 
of  Jerusalem  and  Antioch.  —  Many  Revisions  and  Adap- 
tations. —  Those  of  S.  Basil  and  S.  Chrysostom  Most 
Noted.  —  Sources  of  our  Knowledge  of  the  Syrian  Lit- 
urgy. —  The  Central  Portion  of  that  of  S.  Chrysostom, 
and  Prayer  for  the  Faithful  Departed.  —  The  Chief 
Divisions  of  every  Liturgy.  —  Comparative  Table  of  Four 
Parent  Liturgies,  Showing  Their  Unmistakable  Origin 
from  a  Single  Source. 


VII.  —  The  British  and  Irish  Liturgies   70 

The  British  Church  Fully  Organized  ih  the  Fourth  Cen- 
tury. —  The  Analogy  of  India  under  the  British,  and  the 
Philippines  under  the  Americans.  —  Two  Languages,  Latin 
and  Gaelic,  Spoken  in  Britain.  —  The  British  Church 
Independent  of  Rome  in  Origin  and  Mission.  —  The 
Christianizing  of  Ireland  by  S.  Patrick  in  the  Fifth 
Century,  and  of  Scotland  by  S.  Columba  in  the  Sixth.  — 
Irish  Missions  in  England,  the  Continent,  and  even  Ice- 
land. —  Catholic  in  Doctrine,  and  Practice  yet  Inde- 
pendent of  Rome.  —  Signs  of  the  Close  Connection  with 
the  Gallican  Church,  and  of  Difference  from  the  Roman.  — 
The  Milanese  and  the  Spanish  or  Mozarabic  Liturgies. 


VIII.  —  Growth  of  the  English  Liturgy  ....  82 

The  Mission  of  Augustine  in  Canterbury.  —  The  Liturgy 
He  Prepared  for  His  Anglo—Saxon  Converts  (601).  —  The 
Council  of  Cloveshoo  (747)  adopts  a  Canon  Requiring  the 
Roman  Use,  but  the  Celtic  Retains  its  Hold.  —  The  Use 
of  Scotland  till  the  Eleventh  Century.  —  At  the  Norman 
Conquest  (1066)  many  Diocesan  "Uses."  —  Bishops  Os- 
mund AND  GOODE  AND  THE  USE  OF  SALISBURY  OR  SaRUM.   

Diverse  Uses  till  1549.  —  First  Attempt  at  Reform  of  the 
Daily  Offices  in  1516,  and  for  Holy  Communion  in  1533.  — 
Close  of  the  Third  Great  Period  in  the  History  of  the 
Church  of  England.  —  Deterioration  in  Worship  and 
Life.  —  Influence  of  New  Schools  and  Colleges. 


xiv  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

IX.  —  The  Beginnings  of  Reform   90 

The  Reformation  no  Sudden  Catastrophe.  —  Spread  over 
more  than  two  hundred  years  (145o-1662).  —  strong 
Protests  as  Early  as  the  Eleventh,  Twelfth,  and  Thir- 
teenth Centuries.  —  Council  of  Clarendon  (1164). — 
"Magna  Charta"  (1215).  —  No  "Church  of  Rome"  ever 
in  England.  —  Statutes  of  "Provisors"  and  "Prae- 
munire." —  Archdeacon  (afterwards  Cardinal)  Manning 
on  these  Protests.  —  Work  and  Character  of  Wicliffe. 
—  His  Translation  of  the  Bible.  —  The  Destruction  and 
Robbery  of  the  Monasteries.  —  The  Good  Work  of 
Cardinal  Wolsey.  —  Beginnings  of  Reformation  in  Doc- 
trine. —  The  Usurped  Authority  of  the  Bishops  of  Rome 
Rejected  in  1534.  —  Publication  of  "the  Great  Bible"  in 
1539.  —  Committee  of  Revision  Appointed  in  1543.  —  Re- 
vised Litany  in  1544.  —  Henry  VIII  Dies  in  1547. 


X.  —  The  First  Reformed  Prayer  Book  ....  98 

The  New  Book  not  a  "Compilation."  —  Many  Revisers  in 
the  Past.  —  The  Chief  Books  of  which  the  Book  is  a 
Revision.  —  Why  so  Few  of  these  Remain.  —  Caxton 
the  First  English  Printer.  —  Edward  VI  on  the  Throne. 
—  Duke  of  Somerset  "Protector."  —  Service  in  English 
for  Communion  in  1548.  —  The  Whole  Book  in  1549.  —  No 
Irish  or  Welsh  Version.  —  Contents  of  the  Book.  —  Com- 
munion in  Both  Kinds.  —  Palmer  on  This.  —  Restoration 
of  the  Invocation.  —  The  Order  of  the  Service  and  the 
Prayer  of  Consecration.  —  The  Character  of  the  First 
Book.  —  Four  Objects  in  View. 


XI.  —  Reaction  and  Restoration  1552-1662  .  .  .  109 

Rise  of  Puritanism.  —  New  Committee  Appointed  but  only 
by  the  Council  of  State.  —  Book  of  1552  without  Author- 
ity from  the  Church.  —  Character  of  Somerset  and  His 
Associates.  —  Robbery  of  Churches.  —  Dr.  Morgan  Dix 
on  the  Second  Prayer  Book.  —  Chief  Changes  for  the 


CONTENTS  xv 

chapter  page 
Worse.  —  Edward  Dies  and  the  Book  Dies  with  Him.  — 
Old  Latin  Service  Restored  and  Persecution  Follows.  — 
Mary  Dies  in  1558.  —  New  Revision  under  Elizabeth. — 
Compromise  Retaining  some  Changes  of  1552.  —  Elizabeth 
Dies  in  1603.  —  Under  James  I  some  Changes  in  1604. — 
Book  Prohibited  by  Puritan  Parliament  in  1645.  — 
Savoy  Conference  in  1660.  —  The  Present  Book  Adopted 
by  both  Convocations  in  1661.  —  By  English  and  Irish 
Parliaments  in  1662  and  1666.  —  Wakeman  on  this  Revision 
and  the  Ejectment  of  Nonconformist  Ministers. 


XII.  —  The  Scottish,  American,  and  Irish  Re- 
visions  120 

Revolutionary  Work  of  the  Scottish  Parliament  in  1560.  — 
"Tulchan"  Bishops.  —  Efforts  in  the  Next  Hundred 
Years  to  Restore  Episcopacy.  —  Prayer  Book  of  1637.  — 
Its  Use  in  Edinburgh  Cathedral.  —  Episcopacy  Abolished 
once  More.  —  Under  Charles  II  Episcopacy  and  Liturgy 
Partially  Restored.  —  Under  William  III  again  Over- 
thrown in  1689.  —  Presbyterianism  Established.  —  "The 
Catholic  Remainder"  of  Episcopalians  under  Penal  Laws. 
—  Revision  of  the  Scottish  Book  in  1764.  —  Consecration 
of  Bishop  Seabury  for  American  Church  in  1784.  —  The 
American  Revisions  of  1789  and  1892.  —  Irish  Revision  of 
1877.  —  Introduction  of  "Protestant  Episcopal"  in  Amer- 
ican Book.  —  Objections  to  the  Novel  Title.  —  Growth  of 
Movement  for  Restoration  of  Scriptural  Name.  — 
Appendix  with  Comparison  of  Prayers  of  Consecration, 
and  Genealogy  of  Liturgies  of  Anglican  Communion. 


xvi 


CONTENTS 


PART  II.  The  Prayer  Book  and  What  it  Teaches. 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XIII.  —  The  Holy  Communion.  —  The  Prepara- 

tion or  Pro- Anaphora  135 

Three  Classes  of  Service  in  the  Prayer  Book.  —  1.  Public 
Worship;  2.  Occasional  Offices  for  Priests;  3.  Occa- 
sional Offices  for  Bishops.  —  The  Holy  Eucharist  an 
Ordinary,  not  Extraordinary,  Service.  —  The  "Liturgy" 
Proper  a  great  Preaching  Service.  —  The  Ordinary  or 
Pro-Anaphora,  and  the  Canon  or  Anaphora.  —  "Ante- 
Communion."  —  Title  of  the  Office  in  the  First  Book.  — 
Origin  of  "Missa,"  or  Mass.  —  Better  Title,  Holy 
Eucharist.  —  Rubrics  Concerning  the  "Curate,"  "Re- 
pulsion," Place  of  the  Holy  Table,  "Fair  Linen  Cloth," 
North  or  "Right"  Side.  —  The  Lord's  Prayer,  and  Use 
of  Italics  and  Capitals.  —  Ten  Commandments. 

XIV.  —  The  Collects  145 

Collects,  etc.,  show  Mind  of  the  Church  as  to  Frequency 
of  Celebration.  —  True  Even  of  Good  Friday.  —  Collects 
Peculiar  to  the  West.  —  The  Sonnet  of  Devotion.  — 
Origin  of  the  Word.  —  Mostly  Translations  from  Ancient 
Use.  —  Invocation  of  Saints.  —  Cranmer  as  a  Translator. 
—  Additional  Collects  in  Scottish  and  American  Books.  — 
Canon  Bright  and  Lord  Macaulay  on  Collects.  —  Appen- 
dix Showing  Original  Sources,  and  Classification  for 
Private  Use. 


XV.  —  Epistles,  Gospels,  Creed,  and  Sermon  .  .  154 

Most  of  Epistles  and  Gospels  as  in  Use  of  Sarum.  — 
Principle  of  their  Selection.  — At  First  only  selections 
from  the  Old  Testament.  —  Retained  in  Armenian  and 
Milanese  Liturgies.  —  Origin  of  the  Epistles  or  "Apos- 
tles." —  Sitting  at  the  Epistles,  Standing  at  the  Gospels. 
—  "Gloria  Tibi."  —  The  Eucharistic  Creed.  —  Origin  of 

THE    "FlLIOQUE."  —  BOWING   AT   THE    SaCRED    NaME.  THE 

Sermon,  and  the  Bidding  Prayer. 


CONTENTS  xvii 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XVI.  —  The  Offertory,  Prayer  for  the  Church, 

Exhortation,  and  Invitation  159 

Offerings  for  Support  of  the  Church  and  Clergy.  —  Origin 
of  Endowments.  —  The  Church  of  England  not  "State- 
Paid."  —  The  Mixed  Chalice.  —  Unleavened  Bread.  — 
"  Unfermented  Wine."  —  The  Credence.  —  "  Individual 
Cups."  —  Prothesis  and  the  "Great  Entrance."  —  Prayer 
for  Christ's  Church  Militant.  —  Commemoration  of  and 
Prayer  for  the  Faithful  Departed.  —  Withdrawal  of 
Communicants.  —  The  Exhortation  to  Communion.  — 
Difference  Between  "Notice"  and  "Warning."  —  "Ye 
that  do  Truly,  etc."  —  "Kiss  of  Peace."  —  False  Inter- 
pretation of  the  Invitation  as  Applying  to  all  Persons 
Confirmed  of  Unconfirmed. 


XVII.  —  Confession,    Absolution,  Comfortable 

Words  167 

No  General  Confession  in  Roman  or  Mediaeval  English 
Liturgy.  —  The  "Confiteor"  only  for  the  Celebrant  and 
his  Assistants.  —  The  Use  of  an  Unknown  Tongue  Pre- 
vented a  General  Confession.  —  Private  or  "Auricular" 
Confession.  —  Voluntary  in  the  Primitive  Church.  — 
Still  Voluntary  in  all  the  Oriental  Churches.  —  Abso- 
lution and  the  "Ministry  of  Reconciliation."  —  The 
Comfortable  Words.  —  A  Fitting  Close  of  the  Prepara- 
tion or  Pro-Anaphora. 


XVIII.  —  The  Celebration:  Anaphora  or  Canon  172 
The  "Sursum  Corda."  —  "Sanctus"  or  "Trisagion." — 
Proper  Prefaces.  —  Preface  for  Trinity  Sunday.  — 
Prayer  of  Humble  Access.  —  Prayer  of  Consecration  in 
English  Book  Lacking  in  Invocation.  —  L'Estrange  on 
the  Inconsistency  of  the  Revisers.  —  Corrected  in  Scot- 
tish and  American  Books.  —  "The  Continual  Remem- 
brance."—  The  "Anamnesis"  in  the  Passover  and  the 
Shew  Bread.  —  The  Memorial  of  Melchizedec  and  the 


xviii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

Bow  in  the  Cloud.  —  Hymn  of  Canon  Bright.  —  "We  "  a 
Witness  to  the  Priesthood  of  all  the  People.  —  But  no 
Contradiction  of  the  Ministerial  Priesthood.  —  Liddon 
and  Gore  on  "Sacerdotalism." 


XIX.  —  Christ's  Presence  in  the  Holy  Communion  185 

The  Church  has  no  Theory  as  to  How.  —  Transubstantia- 
tion.  —  Article  XXVIII  and  Pope  Gelasius.  —  Consub- 
stantiation  and  the  Theory  of  Zwingli.  —  All  Theories 
Equally  Objectionable.  —  Princess  Elizabeth.  —  The 
Fact,  and  not  the  Manner  of  the  Presence.  —  S.  T. 
Coleridge  and  Hooker.  —  A  Good  Test-Question.  —  Canon 
Scott  Holland  on  the  Central  Act  of  Public  Worship. 


XX.  —  Communion  and  Post-Communion    ....  191 

Self-Examination.  —  Bishop  C.  Wordsworth,  Bishop  King- 
don,  Dr.  Pusey,  and  the  Convocation  of  Canterbury  on 
Fasting  Reception.  —  "Into  the  Hands."  —  Rule  Taught 
by  S.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem.  —  Various  Customs  as  to  Ad- 
ministration. —  "  Communicate."  —  "  Daily  Bread."  — 
"Gloria  in  Excelsis."  —  Consumption  of  Elements,  and 
Ablutions.  —  Reserved  Sacrament.  —  "Black  Rubric." 


XXI.  —  Daily   Morning  and  Evening  Prayer: 

Matins  and  Evensong  200 

The  Successor  of  the  Daily  Prayers  of  the  Temple  and 
Synagogue.  —  Preserved  for  the  People  only  in  the 
Anglican  Communion.  —  The  Rule  as  Early  as  the  Third 
Century.  —  In  the  Fourth  Century  Increased  and  Elab- 
orated. —  Under  the  Influence  of  the  Monasteries  De- 
veloped into  Seven.  —  Impracticable  for  Ordinary  Use.  — 
Matins  and  Evensong  Formed  from  These  on  Definite 
Plan.  —  Sentences  or  "Capitula,"  Exhortation,  Confes- 
sion, etc.  —  Concerning  Late-Comers.  —  Absence  of 
Office  Hymns. 


CONTENTS 


XIX 


XXII.  —  The  Psalter 


CHAPTER 


PAGE 
208 


Praise  the  Dominant  Note  of  the  Psalms.  —  The  "Venite," 
or  Invitatory.  —  Our  Lord's  Use  of  the  Psalms  on  the 
Cross.  —  Archbishop  Alexander  and  S.  Augustine  on 
the  Psalms.  —  The  Value  of  Their  Constant  Recitation.  — 
The  "Imprecatory"  Psalms.  —  Bishop  Butler  on  "Re- 
sentment." —  The  Theory  of  Moses  Mendelssohn,  and 
Others.  —  Peculiarity  of  Hebrew  Poetry  for  Transla- 
tion. —  LlDDON  ON  CRANMER.  —  PECULIARITY  OF  THE  PRAYER 

Book  Translation.  —  The  Desirablilty  and  Need  of  Eng- 
lish Titles. — Value  of  Antiphons. — The  Arrangement 
of  the  Psalms  for  Recitation.  —  The  Scottish  Plan.  — 
Methods  of  Singing.  —  Hooker  on  the  Objections  of  the 
Puritans.  —  Appendix  I:  Suggested  English  Titles  for  the 
Psalms.  —  Appendix  II:  Music  in  the  Church.  —  Dupan- 
loup  and  Darwin. —  Plain  Song.  —  Council  of  Trent. — 
Palestrina.  —  "Authentic"  and  "Plagal"  Modes.  —  Mer- 
becke,  tallis,  and  anglican  chants. —  metrical  hymns 
and  psalms. 


Scripture  Lessons  in  the  Medieval  Services  very  Brief.  — 
Plan  of  Reading  Old  Testament  Once  Each  Year,  and  the 
New  Twice.  —  Some  Proper  Lessons  first  Appointed  in 
1559.  —  Changes  in  1662.  —  In  Use  in  America  till  1789, 
in  England  till  1871.  —  The  "Te  Deum"  a  Hymnlike 
Creed.  —  The  "Benedicite." — S.  Augustine  and  Cole- 
ridge on  the  Witness  of  Nature  to  God.  —  "Benedictus" 
and  "  Jubilate." —  Evensong  and  not  Vespers  the  Name 
in  the  English  Book.  —  The  "Magnificat."  —  Archbishop 
Alexander  on  its  Age,  Liddon  on  its  Character.  —  "Can- 
tate  Domino,"  "Nunc  Dimittis,"  and  "Deus  Misereatur." 


Not  Three  Creeds. — Not  a  Composition  of  Human  Reason. 

—  Different  from  Modern  "Confessions"  in  its  Simplicity. 

—  The  Key  of  all  Intellectual  Difficulties.  —  A  "Form 


XXIII.  —  The  Lessons  and  Canticles 


235 


XXIV.  —  The  Creed 


245 


XX 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 


PAGE 


of  Sound  Words"  Existing  Before  the  New  Testament.  — 
A  Necessity  Still  for  All.  —  R.  H.  Hutton  on  the  Value 
of  the  Creed.  —  Its  Use  by  an  American  Arctic  Explorer, 
by  a  Little  Child,  by  Catharine  Crauford  Tait. 


The  Creed  a  Summary  of  Facts  Undiscoverable  by  Human 
Reason.  —  Christ  the  Great  Creed-Maker. — The  Form 
often  Differed  in  Different  Dioceses.  —  the  Substance 

ALWAYS  THE  SAME. — THAT  OF  AqUILEIA  THE  NORM  OF  THE 

West.  —  Its  Ancient  Place  after  Psalms  and  Lessons.  — 
The  Nicene  Creed  in  the  Liturgy.  —  Why  Formerly  said 
Secretly.  —  The  Original  of  the  Nicene  Probably  that  of 
Jerusalem  and  Caesarea.  —  Its  Adoption  at  Nice.  —  The 
Only  Question  how  Best  to  Express  the  Traditional 
Faith.  —  The  Additions  Made  at  Constantinople,  Ephesus, 
and  Chalcedon.  —  The  "Filioque,"  "and  from  the  Son."  — 
Archbishop  Alexander  on  the  Nicene  Creed.  —  The  Creed 
or  Hymn  of  S.  Athanasius.  —  Hilary  or  Victricius  its 
Probable  Author.  —  Accepted  as  a  Creed  only  in  the 
Thirteenth  Century.  —  The  "Damnatory"  Clauses. — 
Keble  on  this  Creed.  —  When  Used  in  the  English  Book. — 
Not  Printed  in  the  American  Book.  —  Printed  but  not 
Required  for  Public  Use  in*the  Irish  Book. 

XXVI.  —  The  Prayers,  Litany,  and  Occasional 


The  "Mutual  Salutation"  and  Versicles.  —  Collect  for  the 
Day.  —  Other  Prayers.  —  American  Revisions  in  1789  and 
1892.  —  The  Litany  or  Ectene  in  the  East  and  West.  — 
S.  Augustine's  Litany  at  Canterbury.  —  Hooker's  Defence 
of  the  Litany  against  the  Puritans.  —  "Sung  or  Said." — 
In  Five  Divisions. —  "From  Schisms"  only  Introduced  in 
1661  after  the  Puritan  and  Roman  Sects  Formed  in  1568, 
IS7°>  I572>  AND  1633.  —  All  Petitions  but  Three  Addressed 
to  the  Lord  Jesus.  —  The  American  Changes.  —  Occasional 
Prayers,  etc.  —  Need  of  Additional  Prayers. 


XXV.  —  The  Three  Creeds 


250 


Prayers 


261 


CONTENTS  xxi 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XXVII.  —  Ornaments  of  the  Church  and  of  the 

Ministers  Thereof  272 

Few  Ritual  Directions  in  the  Book  of  1549.  —  The  "Orna- 
ments Rubric"  Adopted  in  1559  to  Correct  the  Abuses 
of  the  Puritans.  —  The  Interpretation  of  the  English 
Final  Court  of  Appeal  in  1857.  —  The  Force  of  the  Orna- 
ments Rubric  in  the  American  Church. —  The  Use  -^of 
Incense  and  Lights. 


XXVIII.  —  The  Baptismal  Offices  281 

The  Sarum  Office  very  Complicated.  —  The  Sign  of  the 
Cross.  —  Puritan  Objections.  —  The  Gospel,  and  the  Rule 
as  to  Sponsors.  —  Modification  in  the  American  Church. 
—  Influence  of  Archbishop  Hermann's  Revisions. — 
Immersion  and  Pouring  both  Allowed.  —  Historical 
and  Grammatical  Reasons  for  Pouring.  —  The  Proper 
Minister.  —  Lay  Baptism.  —  Regeneration  not  Conver- 
sion. —  Baptism  of  Infants.  —  Baptism  of  Adults. 


XXIX.  —  The  Catechism  295 

Instruction  of  Catechumens  in  the  Primitive  Church  and 
in  Mediaeval  England.  —  Practical  Necessity  for  such 
a  Guide  to  "First  Principles"  instead  of  mere  Bible 
Knowledge.  —  The  Living  Church  to  "Teach,"  the  Bible 
to  Give  "the  Certainty." — The  Brevity  of  the  Cate- 
chism. —  Enlargement  Proposed  by  the  Lower  House  of 
Canterbury.  —  Catechizing  "Openly  in  the  Church" 
Sadly  Neglected  with  Great  Loss.  —  The  Still  More 
Explicit  Direction  by  Canon  in  the  American  Church. 


XXX.  —  Confirmation  303 

Though  not  a  Sacrament  "Generally  Necessary  to  Salva- 
tion," Nevertheless  "Ordained  by  Christ  Himself."  — 
Possesses  "an  Outward  Visible  Sign  and  an  Inward 
Spiritual  Grace."  —  One  of  Six  "Principles  of  Christ's 
Doctrine."  —  Confirmations  in  Samaria  and  Ephesus.  — 
Many  Allusions  to  Confirmation  as  "the  Seal,"  "Unc- 


XXII 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 


PAGE 


tion,"  "Anointing."  —  Continuous  Use  from  the  Begin- 
ning. —  The  True  Purpose  and  Effect  of  Confirmation.  — 
Not  Merely  "Confirming"  but  "Being  Confirmed."  — 
The  Layman's  Ordination  to  Priesthood.  —  The  Minister 
of  Confirmation.  —  The  Oriental  Rule.  —  None  to  be 
Admitted  to  Holy  Communion  unless  Confirmed,  or 
Ready  and  Desirous.  —  Methods  of  Confirming.  — Age  of 
Candidates. 

XXXI.  —  Solemnization   of   Matrimony:  Mar- 


Valid  Marriage  not  Dependent  on  Solemnization.  —  A 
Natural  Union,  "One  Flesh,"  Indissoluble  except  by 
Death.  —  Grievously  Abused  among  the  Jews.  —  The 
Divine  Law  Restated  by  our  Lord.  —  Only  One  Ground 
for  "  Putting  Away,"  None  for  Remarriage.  —  The  Bond 
not  Broken  by  Adultery,  but  only  Profaned.  —  S.  Paul's 
Interpretation  of  Christ's  Command.  —  Testimony  of  the 
Apostolic  Fathers  and  of  the  First  Three  Centuries.  — 
The  Cause  of  Loose  Ideas  in  the  Eastern  Church.  —  The 
Strictness  of  the  West,  Especially  in  England.  —  The 
Low  Teaching  of  the  Protestant  Leaders  in  Germany,  and 
of  the  Puritans  in  England.  —  The  First  Divorce  Court 
Set  up  by  the  English  State  in  1857.  —  The  Law  of  Eng- 
land that  of  America  until  the  Revolution.  —  Rapid 
Deterioration  in  Every  State  except  South  Carolina.  — 
The  Law  of  the  English,  Irish,  Scottish,  and  American 
Prayer  Books  Recognizes  no  Dissolution  of  Marriage 
except  by  Death.  —  Remarriage  of  "the  Innocent  Party" 
in  the  American  Church.  —  The  Verdict  of  Experience.  — 
Sum  of  the  Teaching  of  the  New  Testament. 

XXXII.  —  Soleminzation    of    Matrimony:  The 


Marriage  among  Christians  always  Celebrated  with 
Religious  Rites.  —  Forbidden  by  Custom  during  Lent 
since  the  Fourth  Century.  —  The  Purpose  of  Banns  and 
Licence.  —  "Impediments"  and  the  Table  of  Prohibited 


RIAGE  AND  DlVORCE 


318 


Office 


333 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER 

Degrees.  —  Diriment  and  Ecclesiastical  Impediments.  — 
The  Medieval  Service  began  at  the  Church  Porch.  — 
The  Espousal  or  "Engagement."  —  The  Nuptials  or  Be- 
trothal.—  "The  Man  on  the  Right  Hand."  —  "Obey"  — 
The  Ring.  —  Omissions  in  the  American  Office.  —  Hooker 
on  the  Nuptial  Communion.  —  The  Scottish  Provision  for 
a  Eucharist. 

XXXIII.  —  Visitation  and  Communion  of  the 

Sick  

Visitation  Required  in  Holy  Scripture,  and  Pledged  in 
Ordination  Vow.  —  The  Salutation  of  Peace.  —  "Special 
Confession"  and  "Absolution"  Voluntary.  —  Anointing 
of  the  Sick  in  Book  of  1549.  —  Authority  of  Our  Lord  and 
of  S.  James.  —  The  Lambeth  Conference  on  Unction  of 
the  Sick.  —  Variations  in  American,  Scottish,  and  Irish 
Offices.  —  Communion  of  the  Sick.  —  Reservation  of  the 
Holy  Sacrament.  (See  also  Chapter  XX).  —  Rubric 
Concerning  "Spiritual  Communion." 

XXXIV.  —  Burial  of  the  Dead  

Interment  the  Custom  of  both  the  Jewish  and  the  Christian 
Church.  —  Cremation  or  Incineration.  —  Mediaeval  Ser- 
vices very  Elaborate.  —  Bulk  of  Present  Service  Found 
in  the  Ancient  Use.  —  "In  the  Midst  of  Life,  etc."  —  Its 
Use  Peculiar  to  Anglican  Communion.  —  Variations  in 
American,  Irish,  and  Scottish  Offices.  —  Benediction  of 
a  Grave.  —  Eucharist  at  Burial  in  Book  of  1549. 

XXXV.  —  Other  Occasional  Offices:  Churching 

of  Women,  etc  

Churching  Office  Varies  Little  from  that  of  Sarum.  —  Why 
Called  "Churching."  —  Variations  in  American  and  Irish 
Books.  —  Value  of  the  Office.  —  The  Commination  Office 
Practically  Identical  with  the  Mediaeval  Use.  —  Wholly 
Omitted  by  the  American  Church  in  1789.  —  The  Supplica- 
tions with  Some  Additions  Restored  in  1892  as  a  "Peniten- 


xxiv  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER 

tial  Office."  —  Forms  of  Prayer  for  Use  at  Sea.  —  Ameri- 
can and  Irish  Office  for  Visitation  of  Prisoners.  —  Family 
Prayers  in  American  Book.  —  Three  Services  omitted 
from  English  Book  in  1859. 

XXXVI.  —  The  Ordinal:    The  Witness  of  Holy 

Scripture  

Preface.  —  Our  Lord  ever  Loyal  to  Priesthood  of  Jewish 
Church.  —  His  Method  of  Preparing  for  His  Own  Church. 
—  Chooses  Twelve  as  His  Master  Builders.  —  Trains 
and  Empowers  them.  —  Gives  them  "Commandments" 
which  are  only  Known  by  Their  Acts.  —  "Apostolic  Suc- 
cession" SEEN  FROM  THE  BEGINNING.  —  THE  SECOND  ORDER, 

Elders,  Presbyters,  or  Priests.  —  Bishop,  Meaning  Over- 
seer, Applied  at  First  to  Both  Apostles  and  Presbyters.  — 
Confinrd  Later  to  Apostles.  —  The  Third  Order,  Deacons. 

XXXVII.  — The     Ordinal:    The     Witness  of 
Ancient  Authors  

All  Church  Writers  in  the  First  Three  Centuries  Agree 
in  Regarding  the  Three  Orders  as  of  Divine  Authority.  — 
Clement,  Ignatius,  Polycarp,  Hegesippus,  Irenaeus.  —  The 
Hostile  Judgment  of  Gibbon.  —  Hooker's  Challenge  to 
the  Puritans.  —  Diocesan  Episcopacy  and  Apostolic  Suc- 
cession two  Distinct  Things.  —  Even  in  the  Sixth  Century 
Division  into  Dioceses  was  not  Found  in  Ireland  and 
Northern  Scotland.  —  S.  Jerome's  Statement.  —  A  Suc- 
cession through  Presbyters  not  Recognized  Anywhere.  — 
Only  Two  Theories  Exist  as  to  the  Ministry.  —  The 
Unsoundness  of  the  non-Catholic  Theory  Seen  in  "the 
Dissidence  of  Dissent." 

XXXVIII.  — The  Ordinal:    Imagined  Difficul- 
ties in  the  Succession  

Succession  not  a  Chain,  but  a  Net-work.  —  Analogous  to 
all  Civil  Government.  —  Consecration  by  Three  Bishops 
with  Knowledge  of  all  Bishops  in  the  Province.  —  Rule 


CONTENTS 


XXV 


CHAPTER 


PAGE 


of  Council  of  Nice.  —  Succession  of  Bishops  Better 
Attested  than  the  Succession  of  Holy  Scripture. — 
"Unworthiness  of  Ministers"  no  Bar.  —  Article  XXVI, 
and  Bishop  Gore.  —  Preface  only  States  Unassailable 
Historical  Facts.  —  The  Strange  Interpretation  of  "in 
the  Church  of  England,"  or  "in  this  Church."  —  The 
Gain  Won  by  Self-constituted  Ministries  no  Compensation 
for  the  Terrible  Loss  that  Comes  from  Disunion.  —  The 
Vast  Majority  of  Christians  Still  Retain  the  Apostolic 
Ministry.  —  The  Declaration  of  the  Lambeth  Conference 
of  1888. 


XXXIX.  —  Ordinals  Primitive,  Medieval,  and 


The  Ordinal  always  Embedded  in  the  Office  for  Holy 
Communion.  —  The  Witness  of  the  Early  Church  Orders. 

—  Prayer  with  Laying  on  of  Hands  the  Essential  Act  of 
Ordination.  —  Differences  of  Usage  at  Ordination  of 
Bishops.  —  The  Normal  Form  of  Prayer  for  Bishops  and 
Priests.  —  Priests  Unite  in  Ordination  of  Priests.  — 
Deacons  Ordained  by  Bishop  Alone.  —  Medieval  Ordinals 
Overlaid  by  Customs  which  Obscured  the  True  Nature  of 
Ordination.  —  "Bestowal  of  the  Instruments."  —  Bor- 
rowed from  Feudal  Customs.  —  Other  Ceremonies 
which  Tended  3  to  Confusion.  —  Comparison  of  the 
Present  Roman  Ordinal  with  the  Present  English.  — 
The  Revised  Ordinal  Issued  in  i 550.  —  Few  Changes  in  1552. 

—  Form  for  Consecration  of  a  Church  or  Chapel 
Added  to  the  American  Book  in  1799,  and  to  the  Irish  in 
1877.  —  The  Office  of  Institution  of  Ministers  Added  to 
the  American  Book  in  1804.  —  The  Articles  of  Religion, 

—  Appendix  Giving  Outline  of  Sarum  Ordinal. 

XL.  —  Conclusion  405 

The  Apostolic  Liturgy.  —  Traced  to  All  English  Speaking 
Lands.  —  Its  Many  Translations,  and  Many  Human 
Strains.  —  Cranmer's  Work  and  His  Difficulties.  —  His 
Greatness  and  his  Infirmities.  —  Canon  Mason's  Estimate 


Modern 


393 


XXVI 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 


PAGE 


of  the  Man.  —  Summary  of  Abuses  Remedied  and  Benefits 
Gained.  —  The  Large  Place  Given  to  Holy  Scripture.  — 
Dr.  Doliinger's  Comment  on  This.  —  Credit  Due  to  the 
Puritans.  —  The  Superb  Literary  Style  of  the  Book 
though  Largely  a  Translation.  —  The  Judgment  of 
llddon,  macaulay,  and  a  roman  catholic  writer.  —  yet 
Still  Capable  of  Improvement  and  Adaptation  to  New 
Conditions. 


Index 


413 


PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP 
tS  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP 
THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


PART  I.    RATIONALE  AND  HISTORY 


CHAPTER  I 


Practical  Reasons  for  a  Liturgy 


"Form  and  ceremony  are  the  manners  of  religion.  The  water-pots  at  Cana  in 
Galilee  were  empty  forms,  until  the  servants  filled  them  at  the  word  of 
Christy  and  then  they  ran  with  wine.  And  even  so,  a  liturgy  is  an  empty 
form,  but  the  man  who  worships  in  spirit  and  in  truth  may  fill  it  with 
his  heart."  —  W.  R.  Huntington. 


HERE  is  something  very  suggestive  in  the  popular 


A  name,  "  The  Prayer  Book,"  which  is  commonly  given 
to  the  manual  of  devotion  of  the  English-speaking  Church. 
It  plainly  implies  that  it  has  no  rivals.  In  Mr.  Gladstone's 
carefully  selected  library  at  Hawarden  he  had  a  collection 
of  thirty  "improvements"  on  the  book,  and  when  he  showed 
them  to  visitors  he  used  to  remark  with  a  smile  that  not  one 
of  them  had  ever  reached  a  second  edition.  It  would  seem 
to  be  true  of  a  people's  Prayer  Book  as  it  is  said  to  be  of  a 
poet,  Nascitur,  non  fit;  it  is  born,  and  not  made.1 

1  In  marked  contrast  with  this  is  the  attempt  of  the  eminent  Puritan, 
Baxter,  author  of  The  Saints'  Rest,  to  construct  a  complete  liturgy  in  two 
weeks.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Savoy  Conference  in  1661,  and  he  tells 
us  how  he  laid  everything  aside  and  carried  the  work  to  completion.  "  Here- 
upon," he  says,  "I  departed  from  them  and  came  no  more  among  them 
till  I  had  finished  my  task,  which  was  a  fortnight's  time"  (Luckock,  Studies 
in  the  Pr.  Bk.  p.  177). 


4   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

The  actual  title  of  the  volume  is  "The  Book  of  Common 
Prayer,"  and  the  word  "Common"  calls  our  attention  to  a 
great  fundamental  principle  of  Divine  worship  which  had 
been  for  many  centuries  largely  ignored  in  the  Church,  and 
is  still  ignored  by  almost  all  modern  denominations  of  Chris- 
tians who  have  separated  from  the  ancient  national  Catholic 
Churches  of  Europe.  The  use  of  "a  tongue  not  under- 
standed  of  the  people"  during  the  Middle  Ages  made  it 
practically  impossible  for  the  services  of  the  Church  to  be 
common,  that  is,  so  that  the  people,  as  at  the  first,  might 
"lift  up  their  voice  with  one  accord"  in  common.1  There 
is,  indeed,  a  place  and  a  real  use  for  extemporaneous  prayer, 
as  there  was  in  the  early  days  of  the  Church  before  liturgies 
assumed  their  definite  form,  and  also  for  that  silent  prayer 
which  pours  itself  out  to  God  without  articulate  words.  But 
in  public  worship  the  non-use  of  a  book  has  had  exactly  the 
same  effect  in  modern  days  as  that  of  an  unknown  tongue  in 
mediaeval  days,  leaving  the  service  almost  entirely  to  the 
minister,  just  as  once  it  left  it  to  the  priest.2 

The  full  title  of  the  book,  moreover,  is  worthy  of  note. 
It  is  "The  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  and  Administration  of 
the  Sacraments,  and  Other  Rites  and  Ceremonies"  —  not  of 
the  Church  of  England,  or  the  Church  in  the  United  States 
of  America,  but  "of  the  Church, "  that  is,  "the  Holy  Catholic 
and  Apostolic  Church"  of  the  Creed,  or,  as  the  Te  Deum 
has  it,  "the  holy  Church  throughout  all  the  world."  But 
this  particular  book  containing  these  Offices  of  "the  Church 
Catholic"  is  "according  to  the  Use  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 

1  Acts  iv,  24. 

2  Milton  objected  to  a  liturgy  as  "a  supercilious  tyranny"  imposed  on 
ministers,  but  it  has  been  remarked  that  he  did  not  often  attend  the  services 
of  these  Puritan  ministers,  or  else  he  might  have  made  the  discovery  that 
every  minister  is  not  a  Milton. 


REASONS  FOR  A  LITURGY 


5 


land,"  or  of  some  other  national  branch  of  the  Church,  as 
that  of  Ireland,  or  the  United  States  of  America.1 

And  so  the  title  "Common  Prayer"  challenges  our  atten- 
tion, and  bids  us  ask,  Is  such  a  book  a  necessity?  And  if 
so,  What  authority  has  it  in  reason,  in  Scripture,  and  in 
history?  Here  at  the  outset  it  is  pleasant  to  remember  what 
a  change  has  come  over  the  minds  of  many  earnest  Chris- 
tian people,  in  English-speaking  lands  especially,  during  the 
last  half  century,  concerning  this  question  of  the  value  of 
forms  of  prayer.  The  Puritan  Westminster  Assembly  of 
Divines  in  1643  condemned  in  no  measured  terms  the  use 
of  this  very  Book  of  Common  Prayer.  It  was  ungodly  and 
superstitious,  they  said.  "It  has  produced  an  idle  and 
unedifying  ministry,  which  contented  itself  with  set  forms." 
And  mere  verbal  condemnation  was  not  all  which  the  book 
received.  The  power  of  the  Puritan  civil  government  was 
brought  to  bear  upon  those  who  dared  to  follow  the  dictates 
of  their  conscience  and  worship  God  as  their  forefathers  had 
done  for  more  than  a  thousand  years.  In  August,  1643,  the 
Puritan  Parliament  issued  an  order  prescribing  that  any  one 
using  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  should  be  fined  five  pounds 
(the  equivalent  today  of  five  times  that  sum)  for  the  first 
offence,  ten  pounds  for  the  second,  for  the  third  a  year's 
imprisonment.  Nor  was  this  to  apply  only  to  the  public 
use  of  the  book.  The  law  was  aimed  even  at  its  private  use. 
It  was  meant  to  pursue  men  and  women  into  the  secrecy  of 

1  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  word  "Use"  in  this  place  signifies  the 
customary  form  of  Divine  Service  (divinum  officium)  and  Liturgy  in  a 
particular  country  or  diocese.  It  is  so  employed  in  the  Preface  "Concern- 
ing the  Service  of  the  Church"  in  the  English  Book:  "Whereas  heretofore 
there  hath  been  great  diversity  in  saying  and  singing  in  Churches  within 
this  realm,  some  following  Salisbury  use,  some  Hereford  use,  and  some 
the  use  of  Bangor,  some  of  York,  some  of  Lincoln,  now  from  henceforth 
the  whole  realm  shall  have  but  one  use." 


6   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


their  own  houses,  and  he  who  could  be  convicted  of  using 
the  book  even  with  no  eye  but  God's  upon  him  was  subject 
to  the  same  pains  and  penalties  as  the  minister  who  pre- 
sumed to  read  it  for  a  congregation  of  Christian  people.1 

Nor  was  this  state  of  things  confined  to  England.  The 
same  stern  course  was  adopted  by  the  Puritan  settlers  of 
New  England  even  at  an  earlier  date.  It  seems  hard  to 
credit  it  now,  that  in  1629  the  authorities  of  Massachusetts 
Bay  forbade  English  Churchmen  to  enjoy  the  services  of 
their  Prayer  Book  even  in  a  private  dwelling,  and  that  on 
their  refusal  to  comply,  two  at  least  of  their  number  were 
shipped  ofF  to  England  as  " factious  and  evil-conditioned" 
persons.2  In  Scotland  the  same  state  of  things  continued 
even  to  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  though  there 
political  reasons  had  much  to  do  with  the  question.  Seabury, 
the  first  American  Bishop,  was  consecrated  in  1784  by  the 
Bishops  of  the  ancient  "Catholic  remainder"  of  that  country, 
called  the  Scottish  Episcopal  Church,  but  the  service  in  the 
city  of  Aberdeen  had  to  be  performed  in  secrecy,  as  it  was  a 
crime  punishable  with  fine  and  imprisonment  for  more  than 
five  persons,  in  addition  to  the  family,  to  read  the  Church 
service  even  in  their  own  house.3 

I  These  facts  are  noted  here,  not  for  the  purpose  of  stirring 
up  the  embers  of  old  feuds,  for  Churchmen  were  also  guilty 
of  intolerance  of  Dissenters,  but  to  serve  as  a  background 
to  that  marvellous  and  welcome  contrast  which  we  behold 
today.  The  old  Church  still  holds  fast  to  the  same  Prayer 
Book  which  was  then  despised  and  reviled  as  a  meaningless 
mummery.  She  has  not  changed,  but  those  who  formerly 
opposed  her  have  changed.   Whole  Christian  bodies  whose 

1  See  Canon  Perry's  History  of  the  Church  of  England,  chap.  xxix. 
a  Ibid.  p.  609. 

3  See  Lloyd,  Sketches  of  Church  History  in  Scotland,  p.  106. 


REASONS  FOR  A  LITURGY 


7 


traditions  for  three  centuries  were  radically  against  forms 
of  prayer  are  found  today  seeking  the  old  paths  of  the 
Church's  worship.  Prejudice  is  breaking  up,  and  here  and 
there  where  fifty  years  ago  liturgic  worship  was  looked  upon 
as  formal  and  heartless,  forms  of  prayer  are  being  freely 
used.  An  American  Presbyterian  divine  (Professor  Hopkins) 
wrote  concerning  this  fifty  years  ago:  "The  number  of 
Presbyterian  ministers  who  openly  advocate  the  use  of  some 
form  of  prayer  is  large,  and  the  number  of  those  who  hope 
and  anxiously  wait  for  it,  much  larger.  That  the  Churches 
themselves  are  ready  to  welcome  some  such  improvement  is 
plain  enough.  That  the  ministry  themselves  also  feel  the 
want  of  a  liturgy  is  constantly  showing  itself."  Then  he 
adds  that  "to  make  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  consist 
exclusively  in  the  delivery  of  sermons  is  a  fatal  mistake. 
All  appropriate  worship  of  God  through  Jesus  Christ  is  a 
preaching  of  the  Gospel.  .  . .  The  Apostles'  and  Nicene  creeds 
are  full  of  the  Gospel.  .  .  .  There  is  more  of  Christ  in  the 
Te  Deum  and  the  Litany  alone  than  is  commonly  found 
in  two  entire  Presbyterian  services."1 

Nor  is  this  reaching  out  after  the  reverent  ways  of  the 
immemorial  liturgic  worship  of  the  Church  the  only  sign  of 
a  better  mind  on  the  part  of  our  separated  fellow  Christians. 
There  is  also  a  growing  tendency  everywhere  for  the  observ- 
ance of  the  Christian  Year  as  well.  This  is  all  the  more 
striking  because  in  this  later  movement  it  is  its  fasts  rather 
than  its  festivals  that  have  been  sought.    Christmas  and 

1  It  was  in  response  to  this  growing  feeling  that  the  General  Assembly 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America  appointed  a 
committee  to  compile  a  book  of  prayers  which,  under  the  title  of  "The  Book 
of  Common  Worship,"  was  "published  by  authority,  for  voluntary  use 
in  the  Churches,"  in  1906.  It  is  a  useful  collection  of  prayers  largely  drawn 
from  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  and  other  ancient  sources,  but  not 
arranged  in  accordance  with  liturgical  principles. 


8    PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


Easter  have  long  been  more  or  less  observed  among  them, 
but  now  there  is  a  very  general  effort  being  made  by  earnest 
ministers  and  laymen  of  many  denominations  to  secure  the 
observance  of  Lent  in  part  or  in  whole. 

But  all  this  is  only  by  way  of  preface  to  the  many  prac- 
tical and  historical  reasons  which  form  the  ground  on  which 
Churchmen  have  used  forms  of  prayer,  not  merely  for  three 
hundred  years,  but  for  eighteen  hundred  years  and  more. 
No  great  custom  among  men  can  be  really  understood  unless 
we  know  its  raison  d'etre  and  its  history.  We  must  ask 
therefore  first  concerning  the  worship  of  the  Church  of 
Christ  on  what  grounds  it  has  from  the  beginning  adopted 
what  is  called  the  liturgic  method. 

With  the  historic  English-speaking  Church  worship  by 
means  of  a  liturgy  is  not  a  discovery,  but  a  heritage.  It  is 
no  method  of  her  own  devising  any  more  than  the  language 
she  speaks,  or  the  letters  she  uses  in  writing.  It  has  been 
handed  down  through  all  the  Christian  centuries  and  hal- 
lowed by  the  use  of  a  hundred  generations.  It  comes  to  us 
from  the  Tabernacle  and  the  Temple.  It  comes  to  us  from 
the  Upper  Room  where  the  last  Paschal  Supper  of  the  Older 
Church  was  eaten  and  the  new  sacrament  of  God's  infinite 
love  was  instituted  to  take  its  place.  It  comes  from  the 
very  Cross  itself,  even  at  the  moment  when  the  sacred  Blood 
is  dripping  from  the  pierced  Hands,  and  Feet,  and  Side,  and 
thorn-crowned  Head.  For  if  at  any  time  thought  and  feel- 
ing should  be  untrammelled  and  extemporaneous  in  their 
utterance,  it  is  now.  Yet  what  are  the  words  we  hear? 
"My  God,  My  God,  why  hast  Thou  forsaken  Me?"  and 
again,  "Into  Thy  hands  I  commend  My  spirit,"1  the  old 
familiar  forms  of  prayer  that  the  Boy  and  Man  of  Nazareth 
had  said  and  sung  in  the  liturgic  worship  of  His  synagogue 

1  Ps.  xxii,  i;  xxxi,  6. 


REASONS  FOR  A  LITURGY 


9 


and  of  the  Temple,  petitions  from  that  book  of  Psalms 
which  formed  the  core  of  the  ordered  worship  of  Israel,  as  it 
has  ever  since  continued  to  form  the  core  of  all  Christian 
offices  of  devotion. 

Our  first  reason,  then,  for  using  a  liturgy  or  form  of  prayer, 
instead  of  extemporaneous  devotions,  is  that  the  highest 
and  best  experience  in  every  age,  Jewish  as  well  as  Chris- 
tian, has  proved  it  a  necessity  for  unity  of  worship.  Public 
prayer  differs  from  private  in  that  it  must  be  common  prayer, 
that  is,  prayer  in  which  every  member  of  a  congregation  can 
intelligently  join,  by  voice  sometimes,  by  heart  and  mind 
always.  This  is  clearly  impossible  where  the  prayers  are 
composed  anew  for  each  separate  occasion,  and  sometimes 
composed  on  the  spur  of  the  moment.  Extemporaneous 
prayer  is  of  course  most  necessary  for  private  use,  though  even 
there  not  exclusively  so.  But  when  we  come  to  public  wor- 
ship, whatever  else  such  extemporaneous  prayer  may  be,  no 
matter  how  earnest  or  heartfelt,  it  cannot  be  said  to  be 
common  or  united  prayer.  It  does  not  even  escape  being  a 
form  of  prayer.  It  is  necessarily  a  form  made  for  the  people 
to  adopt  as  their  own  but,  not  knowing  it  beforehand,  they 
cannot  be  said  to  make  it  their  own  and  send  it  up  to  the 
throne  of  grace  as  the  solemn  united  intercession  of  God's 
Church. 

To  extemporaneous  prayer  the  people  can  listen,  and  give 
or  withhold  their  approval  as  their  judgment  may  dictate. 
But  this  involves  criticism,  and  criticism  and  devotion  are 
irreconcilable  foes.  They  cannot  live  under  the  same  roof. 
As  soon  as  criticism  enters,  devotion  flies  away.  Indeed,  the 
thought  oftentimes  left  in  the  people's  mind  about  such 
prayers  is  that  they  are  not  so  much  addressed  to  God  as  to 
the  assembled  congregation;  and  these  form  an  audience 
sitting  comfortably  in  their  pews,  rather  than  a  body  of 


io   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fc?  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


worshippers  bending  humbly  on  their  knees.  Hence  we  are 
accustomed  to  read  in  the  newspapers  about  prayers  that 
are  more  like  oblique  sermons,  others  that  resemble  political 
speeches,  and  some  that  are  described  as  "eloquent." 

In  order  to  escape  these  evils  the  Church  in  every  age  and 
land  has  provided  forms  of  prayer  for  her  people.  If  prayer 
is  to  be  common,  there  must  of  necessity  be  some  form  known 
beforehand.  This  is  acknowledged  by  all  in  regard  to  one 
part  of  public  worship,  namely,  the  singing  of  hymns.  And 
hymns  for  the  most  part  consist  of  either  prayer  or  praise. 
That  they  are  in  verse  does  not  alter  the  fact  that  they  are 
forms  of  prayer. 

In  addition  to  the  reasons  already  given  for  the  necessity 
of  forms  in  the  public  worship  of  the  Church,  there  must  be 
mentioned  their  use  in  guarding  against  irreverence  or  eccen- 
tricity on  the  part  of  the  minister,  and  in  safeguarding  the 
people  from  the  introduction  of  error  or  untruth.  A  single 
incident  out  of  many  will  show  what  is  constantly  in  danger 
of  taking  place,  where  there  are  no  forms  of  devotion  or 
recited  creed  to  anchor  minister  and  people  to  the  "faith 
once  for  all  delivered  to  the  saints."  The  First  Congrega- 
tional Church  in  Dorchester,  Massachusetts,  now  Unitarian, 
celebrated  its  250th  anniversary  in  1880.  On  that  occasion 
the  pastor  made  this  statement  in  explanation  of  the  fact 
that  the  original  belief  of  the  congregation  had  been  so 
quietly  revolutionized.  "The  change,"  he  said,  "was  made 
gradually;  there  was  no  division  or  strife,  no  scar  of  conflict; 
so  gradually  that  there  is  nothing  whatever  in  the  church 
records  which  shows  just  where  the  church  ceased  to  be 
Calvinistic  [that  is,  "Orthodox"]  and  became  Unitarian. 
Under  the  leadership  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Harris  the  old  church 
and  its  company  sailed  from  one  latitude  to  another  without 
straining  a  timber,  without  mutiny,  and  just  as  comfortably 


REASONS  FOR  A  LITURGY  n 


as  the  'Mary  and  John'  and  her  voyagers  crossed  the  billows 
of  the  deep"  (1629).  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  this  voyage 
from  the  true  faith  in  our  Lord's  Godhead  could  never  have 
occurred  if  the  ship's  course  had  been  guided  by  the  chart  and 
compass  of  its  common  worship.  A  creed,  no  matter  how 
orthodox,  that  is  carefully  stored  away  on  the  bookshelves 
of  scholars  is  a  dead  thing.  A  creed  that  is  recited  by  millions 
of  voices,  and  is  sung  and  prayed  by  millions  of  lips  and 
hearts,  can  alone  be  a  living  power.1 

There  are  of  course  other  weighty  reasons  for  the  use  of 
forms  of  prayer,  derived  from  the  authority  of  our  Lord  and 
the  universal  practice  of  His  Church.  These  will  be  con- 
sidered in  the  next  chapter.  Here  we  have  only  treated  of 
the  practical  use  and  benefit  of  a  liturgy,  first,  as  a  necessary 
vehicle  of  "common"  or  united  worship;  second,  as  the 
guardian  of  reverence  in  the  presence  of  God;  and  in  the 
third  place,  as  a  safeguard  of  the  people  from  error  in 
the  minister,  and  as  a  conservator  of  the  true  faith  of  the 
Church  from  age  to  age.  On  this  practical  side  of  the  ques- 
tion the  following  words  of  an  able  and  most  thoughtful 
writer  are  worth  remembering: 

"Form  and  ceremony  have  their  place  —  a  secondary 
place,  no  doubt,  but  still  a  place.   They  are  the  manners  of 

1  What  is  true  of  the  Congregational  society  in  Dorchester  is  true  of 
perhaps  the  majority  of  the  older  Congregational  societies  of  New  England. 
It  is  true  also  of  the  English  Puritans  of  the  seventeenth  century.  The  Rev. 
H.  N.  Oxenham  in  his  translation  of  Dr.  Dollinger's  Reunion  of  the  Churches, 
p.  127,  has  this  note:  "The  English  Presbyterians  have  not  disappeared 
altogether,  though  their  numbers  are  diminished  through  the  lapse  of  a 
large  proportion  into  Socinianism.  It  was  stated  in  the  Eclectic  Review  for 
February,  1832,  that  out  of  258  Presbyterian  congregations  in  England 
232  had  become  Unitarian."  The  Latin  proverb,  Lex  orandi,  lex  credendi, 
or  as  it  is  in  its  old  English  form,  Man's  rede,  man's  crede,  has  many  other 
illustrations. 


12   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


religion,  and  though  we  be  as  yet,  while  this  earthly  life  lasts, 
only  in  the  outer  courts  of  the  palace  of  the  Great  King,  it 
cannot  be  amiss  for  us  to  bear  ourselves  as  those  might  do 
who  hoped  one  day  to  stand  before  the  throne.  Meanwhile 
this  charge  of  emptiness  [of  forms  and  ceremonies]  need 
trouble  us  not  at  all,  for  it  is  of  the  very  nature  of  a  form, 
whether  devotional  or  ceremonial,  that  it  be  empty  until 
some  one  fills  it.  An  outline  sketch  is  an  empty  form;  the 
artist,  so  the  phrase  runs,  'fills  it  in.'  A  basket  is  an  empty 
form  of  wicker-work;  the  gardener  fills  it  with  roses.  The 
waterpots  at  Cana  in  Galilee  were  empty  forms,  until  the 
servants  filled  them  at  the  word  of  Christ,  and  then  they  ran 
with  wine.  And  even  so,  a  liturgy  is  an  empty  form,  but  the 
man  who  worships  in  spirit  and  in  truth  may  fill  it  with  his 
heart."1 

1  Popular  Misconceptions  of  the  Episcopal  Church  by  the  Rev.  W.  R. 
Huntington,  D.D.,  p.  13. 


CHAPTER  II 


The  Authority  of  our  Lord  and  of  the  Scriptures 
for  a  Liturgy 

"  They  found  Him  in  the  Temple."  —  S.  Luke  ii,  46. 

"As  His  custom  was.,  He  went  into  the  synagogue  on  the  Sabbath  day" 

—  S.  Luke  iv,  16. 

BESIDES  the  reasons  for  the  use  of  liturgic  forms  of 
prayer  to  be  found  in  common  sense  and  experience,  as 
stated  in  the  previous  chapter,  we  have  others  based  on  the 
direct  warrant  of  Holy  Scripture  and  the  universal  practice 
of  the  Church.  Our  first  appeal  is  to  the  Old  Testament 
with  its  history  of  God's  ancient  Church  of  Israel. 

It  is  to  be  remembered  at  the  outset  that  every  liturgy, 
whether  Jewish  or  Christian,  must  of  necessity  be  a  growth, 
though  always  a  growth  from  a  definite  principle  or  seed.  It 
is  admitted  also  that  among  Christians  and  Israelites  alike 
in  their  private  devotions,  and  under  exceptional  circum- 
stances, even  in  their  public  service,  "free"  or  extempora- 
neous prayer  must  always  be  possible.  We  are  considering 
now,  however,  the  common  worship  of  the  Church  as  a  con- 
gregation. Here  we  have  the  most  unquestioned  evidence, 
even  in  the  earliest  Old  Testament  days,  of  the  adoption  of 
the  principle  that  unity  and  order  and  dignity  could  only 
be  obtained  by  a  prearranged  form  which  all  should  fill  with 
their  hearts'  desires,  and  all  could  intelligently  follow.  In 
the  days  of  the  journeying  in  the  Wilderness  the  very  words 
are  given  to  the  priests  for  pronouncing  God's  blessing  upon 
the  congregation.1   A  form  of  prayer  is  provided  to  be  used 

1  Numb,  vi,  22-27. 


i4   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


whenever  the  sacred  ark  moves  onwards  before  the  people, 
and  whenever  it  rests.1  A  Thanksgiving  service  is  provided 
for  the  offering  of  the  first  fruits  of  the  harvest,2  and  another 
liturgic  form  is  given  in  the  same  chapter  when  the  third 
year's  tithes  are  solemnly  presented  in  God's  house.3  These 
instances  are  taken  from  the  very  earliest  days  when  the 
Church  was  yet  in  its  infancy  and  incomplete.  What  that 
worship  became  in  later  days  under  the  inspired  direction  of 
Samuel,  David,  and  Solomon,  we  may  gather  in  part  from 
that  marvellous  collection  of  prayers,  confessions,  praise,  and 
thanksgiving  which,  in  the  Psalter,  as  we  call  it,  became, 
under  the  guidance  of  God,  the  most  wonderful  book  of  devo- 
tions the  world  has  ever  known.  Great  Hebrew  scholars  tell 
us,  moreover,  that  the  Jews  had  not  only  fixed  forms,  but 
also  a  fixed  order,  both  in  the  Temple  and  in  their  synagogues. 
The  Temple  worship  consisted  of  prayers,  psalms,  lessons 
from  Holy  Scripture,  sacrifices,  and  incense;  the  synagogue 
worship,  of  prayers,  lessons,  and  exhortations  only.4 

Was  there  any  change  of  principle  required  by  the  new 
dispensation  which  our  Lord  brought  in?  Was  human  nature 
so  altered  as  to  make  such  a  change  either  necessary  or 
desirable?  In  other  words,  was  liturgic  worship,  which  had 
divine  sanction  for  fifteen  hundred  years,  one  of  those 
"beggarly  elements"  that  was  to  pass  away  when  the  ful- 
ness of  Christ  was  come?  Let  us  consider  the  facts  of  the 
case.  Our  Lord  had  not  only  been  accustomed  to  the  ordered 
ritual  of  Temple  and  synagogue  as  a  Child  and  Youth.  Even 
as  a  grown  Man  He  was  constantly  to  be  found  in  His  place 
as  a  worshipper.  S.  Luke  speaks  of  His  going  into  the  syna- 
gogue of  His  childhood  at  Nazareth  "as  His  custom  was."  6 

1  Numb,  x,  35-36.  4  See  S.  Luke  iv,  16;  Acts  xiii,  15. 

2  Deut.  xxvi,  1-11.         6  S.  Luke  iv,  16. 

3  Ibid,  verses  12-16. 


AUTHORITY  OF  OUR  LORD  15 

Thither  from  days  of  infancy  He  had  been  led  by  the  hand  of 
His  devout  mother  Mary  and  His  foster-father  Joseph,  and 
when  manhood  came  He  had  not  outgrown  either  the  temper 
or  the  habit  of  the  little  Child.  The  synagogue,  much  more 
the  Temple,  was  still  His  spiritual  home.  With  eager  enemies 
all  about  Him,  ready  to  take  advantage  of  every  slight  or 
seeming  breach  of  churchly  usage,  it  is  not  once  charged 
against  Him  in  all  His  life  that  He  was  a  despiser  or  impugner 
of  that  solemn  worship  which  for  fifteen  centuries  had  been 
the  prescribed  rule  and  custom  of  God's  holy  Church.1 

Here,  therefore,  it  is  important  to  know  something  of  the 
character  of  the  worship  in  Temple  and  synagogue  to  which 
our  Lord  and  the  first  Christians  had  all  their  lives  been 
accustomed.  The  synagogue  was  only  a  kind  of  parish  house 
in  town  and  village,  wherever  ten  families  of  Jews  were  found 
in  Palestine  or  in  heathen  lands.  Unlike  the  Christian  parish 
church,  it  had  neither  priesthood,  altar,  nor  sacrifice,  which 
were  only  to  be  found  in  what  might  be  called  the  great 
cathedral  church  of  the  nation  in  Jerusalem,  where  God  had 
"set  His  Name,"  and  promised  His  especial  Presence.2 
In  the  Temple  every  Israelite  was  only  bound  to  worship 
three  times  in  the  year  at  the  great  feasts.  In  both  syna- 
gogue and  Temple,  however,  the  worship  was  according  to  a 
set  form,  or,  as  we  call  it,  liturgical.  Apart  from  the  sacrifices, 
the  worship  of  the  Temple,  while  much  more  elaborate,  with 
its  trained  and  vested  choirs  of  priests  and  Levites,  differed 
only  in  degree  from  that  of  the  synagogue. 

The  following  account  of  the  synagogue  service  in  His 
own  village  of  Nazareth,  as  He  found  it  on  that  Sabbath  Day 

1  Of  His  remarkable  zeal  for  the  ancient  ritual  year  of  Israel  see  The 
Christian  Tear:  Its  Purpose  and  its  History,  by  the  Author,  chapters  4 
and  5. 

2  Deut.  xiv,  23-25;  2  Chron.  vi,  20. 


16    PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


in  the  first  year  of  His  public  ministry,  when,  "as  His  cus- 
tom was,"  He  entered  to  take  part  in  the  familiar  worship 
there,  is  taken  from  the  description  of  a  learned  Jewish 
Christian,  a  priest  of  the  Church  of  England,  Dr.  Edersheim: 

On  His  entrance,  or  perhaps  before  that,  the  chief  ruler,  a 
layman,  would  request  Him  to  act  as  the  leader  or  minister 
for  that  occasion.  The  Lord  Jesus  would  ascend  the  plat- 
form or  bema,  and,  "standing  at  the  lectern,  would  begin  the 
service  by  two  prayers,  which  in  their  most  ancient  form, 
as  they  probably  existed  in  His  time,  were  as  follows:  — 

"'I.  Blessed  be  Thou,  O  Lord,  King  of  the  world,  who 
formest  the  light  and  createst  the  darkness,  who  makest 
peace  and  createst  everything;  who  in  mercy  givest  light 
to  the  earth,  and  to  those  who  dwell  upon  it,  and  in  Thy 
goodness,  day  by  day,  and  every  day,  renewest  the  works  of 
creation.  Blessed  be  the  Lord  our  God  for  the  glory  of  His 
handiworks,  and  for  the  light-giving  lights  which  He  has 
made  for  His  praise.  Selah.1  Blessed  be  the  Lord  our  God 
who  has  formed  the  lights. 

"'II.  With  great  love  hast  Thou  loved  us,  O  Lord  our 
God,  and  with  much  overflowing  pity  hast  Thou  pitied  us, 
our  Father  and  our  King.  For  the  sake  of  our  fathers  who 
trusted  in  Thee,  and  Thou  taughtest  them  the  statutes  of 
life,  have  mercy  upon  us,  and  teach  us.  Enlighten  our  eyes 
in  Thy  Law;  cause  our  hearts  to  cleave  to  Thy  command- 
ments; unite  our  hearts  to  fear  and  love  Thy  Name,  and  we 
shall  not  be  put  to  shame,  world  without  end.   For  Thou  art 

1  Selah.  "This  word  occurs  71  times  in  the  Psalter.  ...  It  is  universally 
agreed  that  Selah  is  a  liturgical  or  musical  sign  of  some  kind.  Its  reference 
to  the  Temple  music  is  evinced  by  the  fact  that  31  of  the  39  Psalms  con- 
taining it  are  inscribed  in  their  titles  Lamenatseach  [To  the  chief  musician]. 
.  .  .  The  meaning  may  be  'Lift  up!  Loud!'  a  direction  to  the  orchestra.  .  .  . 
Or  it  may  mean  [as  in  this  prayer]  'Lift  up  your  benediction'"  (Hastings' 
Dictionary  of  the  Bible  >  s.  v.). 


AUTHORITY  OF  OUR  LORD  17 


a  God  who  preparest  salvation,  and  us  hast  Thou  chosen 
from  among  all  nations  and  tongues,  and  hast  in  truth 
brought  us  near  to  Thy  great  Name  —  Selah  —  that  we  may 
lovingly  praise  Thee  and  Thy  Unity.  Blessed  be  the  Lord, 
who  in  love  chose  His  people  Israel. 

After  this  followed  what  may  be  designated  as  the  Jewish 
Creed,  called  the  Sbema,  from  the  word  'shema,'  or  'hear/ 
with  which  it  begins.  It  consisted  of  three  passages  from  the 
Pentateuch.1  The  "  recitation  of  the  Sbema  was  followed  by 
this  prayer: 

'"True  it  is  that  Thou  art  Jehovah,  our  God,  and  the 
God  of  our  fathers,  our  King,  and  the  King  of  our  fathers, 
our  Saviour,  and  the  Saviour  of  our  fathers,  our  Creator, 
the  Rock  of  our  Salvation,  our  Help,  and  our  Deliverer. 
Thy  Name  is  from  everlasting,  and  there  is  no  God  beside 
Thee.  A  new  song  did  they  who  were  delivered  sing  to  Thy 
Name  by  the  sea-shore;  together  did  all  praise  and  own 
Thee  King,  and  say,  Jehovah  shall  reign,  world  without  end! 
Blessed  be  the  Lord  who  saveth  Israel/ 99 

"This  prayer  finished,  he  who  officiated  took  his  place 
before  the  Ark  [the  Holy  Chest  containing  the  sacred  rolls 
of  the  Law  and  the  Prophets],  and  there  repeated  what 
formed  the  prayer  in  the  strictest  sense,  or  certain  'Eulogies' 
or  Benedictions.  .  .  .  After  this  the  priests,  if  any  were  in 
the  Synagogue,  spoke  the  blessing,  elevating  their  hands  up 
to  the  shoulders  (in  the  Temple,  above  the  head).  This  was 
called  the  lifting  up  of  hands.  In  the  Synagogue  the  priestly 
blessing  was  spoken  in  three  sections,  the  people  each  time 
responding  by  an  Amen.  ...  If  no  descendant  of  Aaron 
were  present,  the  leader  of  the  devotions  repeated  the 
usual  priestly  benediction.2    After  the  benediction  followed 

1  Deut.  vi,  4-9;  xi,  13-21;  Numb,  xv,  37-41. 
8  Numb,  vi,  23-26. 


18    PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


the  last  Eulogy,  which,  in  its  abbreviated  form  (as  pre- 
sently used  in  the  Evening  Service),  is  as  follows: 

'"O  bestow  on  Thy  people  Israel  great  peace  for  ever. 
For  Thou  art  King,  and  Lord  of  all  peace.  And  it  is  good  in 
Thine  eyes  to  bless  Thy  people  Israel  at  all  times  and  at 
every  hour  with  Thy  peace.  Blessed  art  Thou,  Jehovah, 
who  blesseth  His  people  with  peace!' 

"The  liturgical  part  being  thus  completed,  one  of  the 
most  important,  indeed,  what  had  been  the  primary  object 
of  the  Synagogue  service,  began.  The  Chazzan,  or  minister, 
approached  the  Ark,  and  brought  out  a  roll  of  the 
Law.  .  .  .  On  the  Sabbath,  at  least  seven  persons  were 
called  upon  successively  to  read  portions  from  the  Law 
[according  to  a  prescribed  lectionary],  none  of  them  con- 
sisting of  less  than  three  verses.  .  .  .  Upon  the  Law  fol- 
lowed a  section  from  the  Prophets,  the  so-called  Hapb- 
tarah.  .  .  .  This  was  immediately  followed  by  an  address, 
discourse,  or  sermon,  that  is,  where  a  Rabbi  capable  of 
giving  such  instruction,  or  a  distinguished  stranger,  was 
present.  .  .  .  The  service  closed  with  a  short  prayer,  or 
what  we  would  call  an  '  ascription/ 99 1 

In  the  Temple,  where  sacrifices  were  offered,  and  where 
only  the  priests  and  Levites  officiated,  the  services  were  of 
course  on  a  grander  scale.  "These  included  the  daily  offering 
of  a  lamb  on  the  altar  of  burnt  offering,  in  the  morning  and 
at  even,  accompanied  with  a  meat  offering  (flour  and  oil), 
and  a  drink  offering  (wine).  On  the  Sabbath  two  lambs 
were  offered  instead  of  one.  There  was  a  daily  offering  of 
incense  on  the  altar  of  incense  in  the  morning  before,  and  in 
the  evening  after  the  daily  sacrifice.  In  connection  with  the 
offering  of  the  burnt  sacrifice,  there  was  vocal  and  instru- 
mental music;   the  priests  blew  silver  trumpets,  and  the 

1  Life  and  Times  of  Jesus  the  Messiah,  Book  III,  chap.  x. 


AUTHORITY  OF  OUR  LORD 


Levites  played  on  various  instruments.  A  special  psalm 
was  appointed  for  use  on  each  day  of  the  week,  viz.,  on  Sun- 
day, Ps.  xxiv;  on  Monday,  Ps.  xlviii;  on  Tuesday,  Ps.  lxxxii; 
on  Wednesday,  Ps.  xciv;  on  Thursday,  Ps.  lxxxi;  on  Friday, 
Ps.  xciii;  on  the  Sabbath,  Ps.  xcii." 1 

Following  is  the  substance  of  Dr.  Edersheim's  account  of 
the  service  described  by  S.  Luke,2  when  it  was  the  lot  of  the 
priest  Zacharias,  the  father  of  John  the  Baptist,  to  burn 
incense  in  the  Temple.  This  privilege  came  to  a  priest  only 
once  in  a  lifetime,  and  it  was  on  this  occasion  that  the  angel 
Gabriel  announced  to  Zacharias  the  coming  miraculous  birth 
of  his  son.  The  officiating  priest  ascended  the  steps  leading 
to  the  Holy  Place  where  stood  the  golden  altar.  Here  he 
was  preceded  by  two  assistant  priests,  one  of  whom  spread 
coals  on  the  altar,  while  the  other  arranged  the  incense  for 
convenient  use.  The  two  assistants  then  retired,  and  Zacha- 
rias was  left  alone  in  the  Holy  Place  to  await  the  signal  of 
the  presiding  priest  for  making  the  offering.  Meanwhile 
"the  whole  multitude  of  the  people  were  praying  without 
at  the  time  of  incense"  (verse  10).  • 

One  of  the  prayers  offered  by  the  priests  and  people  con- 
jointly at  this  part  of  the  service,  as  preserved  by  tradition, 
is  as  follows: 

"Be  graciously  pleased,  Jehovah  our  God,  with  Thy 
people  Israel  and  with  their  prayer.  Restore  the  service  to 
the  oracle  of  Thy  house;  and  the  burnt  offerings  of  Israel, 
and  their  prayers,  accept  graciously  in  love;  and  let  the 
service  of  Thy  people  Israel  be  ever  well  pleasing  unto  Thee. 
.  .  .  Appoint  peace,  goodness,  and  blessing;  grace,  mercy, 
and  compassion  for  us,  and  for  all  Israel  Thy  people.  Bless 
us,  O  our  Father,  all  of  us  as  one,  with  the  light  of  Thy  Coun- 
tenance.   For  in  the  light  of  Thy  Countenance  hast  Thou, 

1  Warren,  Liturgy  of  the  Ante-Nicene  Church,  p.  189.         2  i,  5-26. 


2o   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fc?  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


Jehovah  our  God,  given  us  the  law  of  life,  and  peace.  .  .  . 
Blessed  be  Thou,  Jehovah,  who  blessest  Thy  people  with 
peace."1 

It  was  then  to  such  services  as  these  that  our  Lord  and  His 
disciples  alike  had  been  accustomed  all  their  life  long.  In 
the  early  days  of  His  ministry,  before  the  rulers  had  suc- 
ceeded in  making  the  mass  of  the  people  His  enemies,  the 
worship  of  the  village  synagogues  naturally  gave  our  Lord 
His  best  opportunities  for  teaching  and  preaching.  Hence 
we  read  that  after  His  Baptism  and  Temptation  He  returned 
to  the  country  of  His  childhood,  and,  it  is  added,  "He  taught 
in  their  synagogues,  being  glorified  of  all.  And  He  came  to 
Nazareth,  where  He  had  been  brought  up;  and,  as  His 
custom  was,  He  went  into  the  synagogue  on  the  Sabbath 
day."2 

But  we  are  not  dependent  only  on  our  Lord's  example  in 
this  regard.  We  have  His  distinct  precept  also,  and  His 
clear  directions,  concerning  the  worship  of  that  new  Church 
—  "My  Church"  He  calls  it  — which  He  is  about  to  build  on 
the  foundation  of  His  twelve  Apostles.3  When  His  disciples 
came  to  Him  one  day  asking  Him  to  teach  them  how  to  pray 
as  the  Baptist  had  taught  his  disciples,4  "He  does  not  tell 
them  to  trust  to  the  passing  feelings  of  the  moment,  and  shun 
as  coldness  everything  which  is  not  extemporaneous."5  On 
the  contrary  He  gives  them  the  very  words  of  that  most 
perfect  and  complete  of  all  prayers  that  were  ever  uttered, 
which  we  call  especially  "The  Lord's."  It  may  even  be  said 
of  this  prayer  that  its  brevity,  its  conciseness,  its  differentia- 
tion from  every  other  prayer  composed  by  man,  compel  the 
confession  that  Some  One  far  above  humanity  must  have 

1  The  Temple,  its  Ministry  and  Services ,  pp.  139,  140. 

2  S.  Luke  iv,  15,  16.  3  S.  Matt,  xvi,  18. 

*  S.  Luke  xi,  1.  6  Bishop  W.  I.  Kip. 


AUTHORITY  OF  OUR  LORD 


been  its  author.  In  other  words,  it  is  a  miracle  in  words.1 
And  our  Lord  bids  His  disciples  use  this  prayer,  not  merely 
as  a  model  or  guide,  but  in  its  very  language.  "When 
ye  pray,"  He  commands,  " say,  Our  Father,"  and  all  that 
follows. 

Moreover,  it  is  surely  a  very  striking  fact  that,  amid  many 
vicissitudes  and  many  shortcomings,  Christians  in  every  age 
have  never  failed  to  keep  this  precept  of  their  Lord  to  the 
letter.  Year  after  year,  hour  after  hour,  that  prayer  has 
been  the  very  key  to  Heaven  for  countless  multitudes. 
"Though  men  should  speak  with  the  tongues  of  angels," 
writes  Hooker,  "yet  words  so  pleasing  to  the  ears  of  God 
as  those  which  the  Son  of  God  Himself  hath  composed  were 
not  possible  for  men  to  frame."  He  quotes  also  the  language 
of  S.  Cyprian,  the  great  martyr  Bishop  of  Carthage  in  the 
third  century:  "Seeing  that  we  have  an  Advocate  with 
the  Father  for  our  sins  .  .  .  sith  His  promise  is  our  plain 
warrant,  that  in  His  Name  what  we  ask  we  shall  receive, 
must  we  not  needs  much  the  rather  obtain  that  for  which 
we  sue,  if  not  only  His  Name  do  countenance,  but  also  His 
speech  present  our  requests?"2 

What  greater  proof,  then,  could  our  Lord  give  concerning 
what  He  meant  the  worship  of  His  Church  to  be?  Not  only 
did  He  show  His  approval  of  the  liturgic  method  by  His 

1  Compare  the  Ten  Commandments  in  these  respects. 

2  Ecc.  Pol.  V,  xxxv,  3.  The  doxology,  "For  Thine  is  the  kingdom,"  etc., 
is  not  used  liturgically  in  the  Latin  Church.  It  appears  in  the  Scottish 
Book  of  1637.  In  the  English  Book  it  was  added  only  in  1662.  The 
critics  reject  it  from  S.  Matthew  vi,  where  it  seems  to  have  been  first  intro- 
duced from  some  such  liturgy  as  those  of  S.  Mark  and  Armenia.  Thus 
used,  it  is  an  act  of  praise,  and  it  is  because  of  the  penitential  character 
of  the  prayer  at  the  beginning  of  the  office  for  Holy  Communion  and 
elsewhere,  that  the  doxology  is  omitted  there.  See  Freeman,  I,  108,  and 
P.  and  F.,  p.  374. 


22   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


own  constant  presence  in  synagogue  and  Temple,  as  Child 
and  Man;  not  only  does  He  not  condemn  the  use  of  forms, 
while  severely  denouncing  formalism,  but  He  Himself  uses 
forms,  and  teaches  His  disciples,  and  through  them  His 
whole  Church,  to  use  forms  in  their  approaches  to  His 
Father's  throne.  It  was  in  response  to  their  request  that  He 
should  "teach  them  to  pray,  as  John  also  taught  his  disciples/' 
that  He  said,  "When  ye  pray,  say,  Our  Father,"  etc.  It  is 
as  if  He  said,  "Use  these  very  words  that  I  give  you.  They 
will  sum  up  all  the  things  for  which  you  need  to  pray.  They 
will  save  you  also  from  wandering  thoughts,  and  from  those 
'vain  repetitions'  and  'much  speaking'  by  which  'the  hea- 
then' think  to  make  God  hearken."  And  though  the  voice 
that  gave  us  the  prayer  is  no  longer  heard  by  the  outer 
ear,  its  very  words  are  being  uttered  today  all  over  the 
earth,  and  in  every  tongue,  as  no  prayer  was  ever  uttered 
before.1 

1  In  S.  Luke  xi,  2,  our  Lord  gives  the  very  words  of  the  prayer,  as  His 
disciples  had  asked  ("When  ye  pray,  say");  in  the  words  "our,"  "we," 
"us,"  He  implies  that  it  is  intended  primarily  at  least  for  "common" 
worship.  In  S.  Matt,  vi,  9,  He  gives  His  prayer  to  the  multitude  as  a 
pattern  for  their  other  prayers  ("After  this  manner  pray  ye"). 


CHAPTER  III 


"They  Continued  Stedfastly  in  the  Prayers" 

"...  The  parson  —  /  knew  not  his  name., 
And  the  brethren  —  each  face  was  unknown; 

But  the  Church  and  the  prayers  were  the  same, 
And  my  heart  claimed  them  all  for  its  own." 

—  Bishop  Coxe. 


E  come  now  to  a  third  reason  for  the  use  of  forms  of 


\  V  prayer.  Our  final  appeal  is  to  the  practice  of  the 
first  Apostles,  the  men  who  knew  best  "the  mind  of  Christ.,,1 
We  have  already  seen  to  what  kind  of  worship  the  Apostles 
and  first  Christians  had  been  trained  as  children,  and  had 
been  familiar  with  as  men.  They  were  all  devout  Jews, 
brought  up,  as  their  Master  had  been,  in  village  synagogue 
and  city  Temple.  It  would  then  be  passing  strange  if  they 
should  adopt  some  new  and  unheard-of  method  of  worship 
when  they  proceeded  to  set  up  the  Church  as  Christ  com- 
manded them.  But  nothing  of  this  revolutionary  character 
do  we  find,  for  revolutionary  indeed  it  would  have  been. 

It  is  noteworthy  in  this  connection  that,  even  after  the 
coming  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  the  establishment  of  the 
Church,  we  find  the  Apostles  attending  diligently  the  serv- 
ices of  the  Temple.  It  is  especially  recorded  that  they,  to- 
gether with  the  multitudes  baptized  on  Pentecost,  "continued 
daily  with  one  accord  in  the  Temple,,,  while  they  celebrated 
their  own  peculiar  Christian  service,  the  "Breaking  of 
Bread,"  or  Holy  Communion,  "at  home.,,2  About  this 
time  also  we  are  told,  S.  Peter  and  S.  John  "went  up  into 

1  i  Cor.  ii,  16.  2  Acts  ii,  46,  Rev.  Ver. 


24   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


the  Temple  at  the  hour  of  prayer,  being  the  ninth  hour" 
(3  p.m.),1  the  hour  of  the  evening  sacrifice.  About  twenty- 
five  years  after  his  conversion  we  find  S.  Paul  also  in  the 
Temple,  and  actually  uniting  with  other  Jewish  Christians 
in  offering  sacrifices  there  according  to  the  Law.2  Again 
and  again  also,  we  find  S.  Paul,  and  S.  Barnabas,  and  Apollos, 
with  their  companions  entering  the  synagogues  of  the  vari- 
ous cities  which  they  visited  on  their  journeys  in  Asia  Minor, 
and  in  Greece,  not,  we  may  be  sure,  merely  to  preach,  much 
less  to  criticize,  but  to  join  also  devoutly  in  the  ancient 
worship  of  their  fathers.3 

In  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  which,  let  us  remember,  is 
the  first,  and  also  the  inspired,  volume  of  the  history  of  "the 
Holy  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church"  of  the  Creed,  we  have, 
moreover,  the  record  of  what  constituted  distinctive  Chris- 
tian worship  in  these  earliest  days  when  the  Apostles,  whom 
our  Lord  Himself  had  trained  and  taught,  were  still  alive. 
There  is  first  "the  Breaking  of  the  Bread,"  or  Holy 
Eucharist,  or  Holy  Communion,  which  we  shall  consider 
later  on;  and  second,  there  are  "the  Prayers,"  in  both  of 
which,  we  are  told,  the  Apostles  and  all  the  Christian  flock 
"continued  stedfastly."4 

Let  us  note  this  latter  phrase  especially  in  this  connection. 
It  is  not  "prayer,"  as  would  be  the  case  if  the  service  were 
what  is  called  "extemporaneous"  or  "free."  Nor  is  it 
merely  "prayers"  but,  as  in  the  original  Greek  and  the 
Revised  Version,  "the  prayers,"  that  is,  the  accustomed 
prayers  which,  even  in  that  year  when  S.  Luke  was  writing 
his  history  (a.d.  66,  or  earlier),  formed  the  ordinary  worship 
of  the  Christian  flock.    "They  continued  stedfastly  in  the 

1  Acts  iii,  1.  2  Acts  xxi,  26. 

3  See  Acts  ix,  20;  xiii,  5;  xiv,  1;  xvi,  13;  xvii,  2,  17;  xviii,  4,  26. 

4  Acts  ii,  42. 


STEDFAST  IN  THE  PRAYERS  25 


prayers,"  those  familiar  prayers,  he  seems  to  say,  which  we 
Christians  for  thirty  years  past  have  known  and  loved. 

How  it  came  to  pass  that  the  first  Christians  in  Jerusalem 
had  such  a  body  of  prayers,  or  ordered  service,  ready  at  once 
to  their  hand,  may  easily  be  guessed  by  those  who  bear  in 
mind  what  a  glorious  prayer  book  and  liturgy  these  men  had 
been  accustomed  to  ever  since  their  childhood.  They  knew  it 
far  better  than  we  know  ours  today,  for  they  knew  it  almost 
universally  by  heart.  In  the  absence  of  printed  books,  such 
as  we  possess  in  abundance,  faithful  Jews  committed  these 
devotional  treasures  to  memory.  Their  language  was  "fa- 
miliar as  household  words,"  and  in  adapting  them  to  their 
worship  as  Christians  it  would  be  only  necessary  to  add  to 
their  prayers  such  words  as  "through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord," 
or  "all  this  we  ask  in  the  Name  of  Thy  Son  Jesus,  our  only 
Mediator  and  Advocate,"  in  obedience  to  His  repeated 
command  and  promise  concerning  asking  "in  His  Name."1 
They  had,  moreover,  the  very  words  of  the  prayer  which  He 
Himself  had  given  them.  Their  familiar  Hebrew  Psalms, 
also,  with  other  hymns  from  the  Old  Testament,  and  the 
four  great  Gospel  Hymns  as  yet  unwritten,2  only  needed 
the  addition  of  such  words  as  those  suggested  by  the  bap- 
tismal formula,  "Glory  be  to  the  Father,  and  to  the  Son, 
and  to  the  Holy  Ghost,"  to  make  them  distinctly  Christian. 
Here  therefore  the  Church,  at  the  very  beginning,  had  a 
rich  treasure  of  devotional  forms  ready  to  her  hand,  with 
which  to  conduct  her  service  of  "Common  Prayer."  As  time 
went  on,  of  course  new  occasions  would  add  to  her  treasures, 
especially  round  the  central  act  of  her  worship  in  the  Break- 

1  S.  John  xiv,  13,  14;  xv,  16;  xvi,  23,  24,  26.  For  examples  in  the  early 
Greek  offices  see  Freeman,  I,  pp.  64-67. 

2  Ex.  xv,  1-19;  Deut.  xxxii,  1-44;  1  Sam.  ii,  i-il;  Is.  xxxviii,  10-21; 
S.  Luke  i,  46,  sq.;  ii.  14;  29,  sq. 


26   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP     THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


ing  of  the  Bread,  or  Holy  Eucharist.  But  here  was  enough 
for  a  nucleus  and  a  beginning.  What  follows  must  be  the 
slow  growth  of  Christian  experience. 

A  single  recorded  example  of  early  Christian  worship, 
within  a  few  weeks  of  our  Lord's  ascension,  bears  definite 
witness  to  this  inherited  tendency  and  liturgic  training  of 
the  first  disciples.  In  the  fourth  chapter  of  the  Acts  we  are 
given  a  picture  of  a  Christian  service  which  was  occasioned 
by  a  sudden  emergency,  one  therefore  where  we  would 
naturally  suppose  all  rules  of  liturgic  worship  would  be  for- 
gotten or  set  at  naught.  The  Apostles  Peter  and  John  had 
been  arrested  and  imprisoned,  and  after  their  release  they 
return  at  once  to  their  fellow  disciples.  It  is  at  this  moment 
of  fear  and  joy  that  this  band  of  Christians  with  their  clergy 
hold  a  service  of  thanksgiving  and  prayer.  But  though  the 
occasion  was  most  exceptional,  nevertheless,  so  far  as  Holy 
Scripture  informs  us,  there  is  nothing  exceptional  or  extem- 
poraneous in  their  devotions.  The  prayer  which  they  offer 
has  all  the  dignity  and  soberness  of  an  accustomed  service. 
It  has  also  the  unmistakable  upward  look  of  the  Psalter,  as 
contrasted  with  the  inward  look  of  many  modern  prayers 
and  hymns.  Its  very  words,  we  are  told,  were  joined  in 
audibly  by  every  Christian  present.  "They"  —  and  not 
merely  their  leader — "lifted  up  their  voice  to  God  with  one 
accord,  and  said,"  —  and  then  the  very  language  of  this 
"common"  prayer  is  given  us,  plainly  showing  that  it  was 
not  a  new  prayer  coined  for  this  special  occasion,  but  an 
accustomed  form  suited  to  any  occasion  of  public  worship 
in  troublous  times. 

In  various  passages  of  the  epistles  we  find  what  seem  to 
be  allusions  to  the  liturgic  worship  of  the  Apostles'  days. 
Writing  to  Timothy,  whom  he  had  left  as  the  Bishop  over 
the  Church  in  Ephesus,  S.  Paul  exhorts  him  to  "hold  fast 


STEDFAST  IN   THE  PRAYERS  27 


the  form  of  sound  words"  which  he  had  delivered  to  him,1 
where  the  reference  is  evidently  either  to  a  creed,  or  to  a 
form  of  prayer.  Writing  to  the  Roman  Church  we  find  a 
similar  expression,  "that  form  of  doctrine,  which  was  de- 
livered you."2  There  are  also  many  passages  throughout 
the  epistles,  some  of  a  metrical  or  rhythmical  character, 
introduced  with  the  words,  "as  it  is  written,"  or  "it  is  a 
faithful  saying,"  of  which  the  language  is  nowhere  found  in 
the  Old  Testament  or  in  the  New,  and  it  has  seemed  prob- 
able to  scholars  that  these  are  all  quotations  either  from 
familiar  Christian  hymns,  or  from  prayers  already  used  in  the 
worship  of  the  Church.3 

The  first  of  these  passages,  which  occurs  in  one  of  the 
earliest  books  of  the  New  Testament,  is  given  in  the  Revised 
Version  as  follows:  "As  it  is  written, 

Things  which  eye  saw  not,  and  ear  heard  not, 
And  which  entered  not  into  the  heart  of  man, 
Whatsoever  things  God  prepared  for  them  that  love 
Him." 

The  quotation  has  a  certain  resemblance  to  Is.  lxiv,  4:  "Since 
the  beginning  of  the  world  men  have  not  heard,  nor  per- 
ceived by  the  ear,  neither  hath  the  eye  seen,  O  God,  beside 
Thee,  what  he  hath  prepared  for  him  who  waiteth  for  him." 
But  Dr.  John  Mason  Neale  has  pointed  out  that,  when  com- 
pared with  the  original  Greek  of  the  Septuagint  (that  is,  the 
version  of  the  Old  Testament  usually  quoted  by  the  writers 
of  the  New  Testament  and  by  our  Lord),  "literally  not  one 
word  is  the  same  in  Isaiah  as  in  S.  Paul." 4    It  will  be  observed 

1  2  Tim.  i,  13.  2  Rom.  vi,  17. 

3  1  Cor.  ii,  9;  xv,  45;  Eph.  v,  14;  1  Tim.  i,  15;  iii,  1;  iv,  8,  9;  2  Tim. 
ii,  11,  12,  13,  19;  Titus  iii,  8. 

4  Essays  on  Liturgiology,  p.  416. 


28   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


also  that  the  passage  as  literally  translated  in  the  Revised 
Version  is  ungrammatical,  being  only  the  fragment  of  a 
sentence.  But  "the  exact  words  of  the  quotation,  with 
the  ungrammaticalness  supplied,"  are  found  in  the  liturgy 
which  had  its  home  in  Jerusalem,  that  named  after  S.  James. 
Even  S.  Paul's  words  in  the  verse  following,  "For  the  Spirit 
searcheth  all  things,  yea,  the  deep  things  of  God,"  are 
also  found  word  for  word  in  the  Post-Sanctus  of  the  same 
liturgy.1  Though  most  frequently  the  liturgies  in  their 
later  form  quote  from  the  New  Testament,  it  would  seem 
that  here  we  have  the  New  Testament  quoting  from  the 
liturgy. 

For  this  and  other  reasons  it  seems  evident  that  a  Chris- 
tian liturgy,  after  the  model  to  which  our  Lord  and  His 
Apostles  had  been  accustomed  in  the  Temple  and  synagogue, 
was  formed  and  used  before  the  Christian  Scriptures  were 
written  or  completed.  Thus  liturgic  worship  is  one  of  those 
"customs"  and  "traditions"  which  bear  fully  the  test  that 
S.  John  applies  to  them  as  claiming  our  obedience,  namely, 
that  they  have  existed  in  the  Church  "from  the  beginning."2 
What  the  present  writer  has  said  elsewhere  concerning  the 
ritual  year  of  the  Church  is  equally  applicable  to  its  method 
of  worship.  "It  is  remarkable,  though  too  often  overlooked, 
how  frequently  the  words  'tradition,'  'custom/  and  'way/ 
or  their  equivalents,  occur  in  the  New  Testament.  .  .  .  S. 
Paul  in  writing  to  correct  certain  evils  in  Corinth  gives  as  a 
sufficient  reason  for  some  things  his  own  'ways  in  Christ.' 
As  a  sufficient  argument  against  another  practice  in  the  same 
Church  he  writes,  'We  have  no  such  custom,  neither  the 
Churches  of  God';  and  he  says  in  the  same  chapter,  'Hold 
fast  the  traditions  even  as  I  delivered  them  unto  you.'  To 
the  Thessalonian  Church  he  says,  'Stand  fast,  and  hold  the 

1  Essays  on  Liturgiology,  p,  417.        2  1  John  ii,  24;  iii,  11;  2  John  6. 


STEDFAST  IN  THE  PRAYERS 


traditions  which  ye  have  been  taught,  whether  by  word  or 
our  epistle.'"1 

Of  course  we  cannot  expect  to  find  such  customs  and 
traditions  embodied,  or  even  described,  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. It  is  enough  to  learn  that  among  the  first  converts 
to  Christ,  in  the  days  of  the  original  Apostles,  the  principle 
of  liturgic  worship  was  already  a  life-long  inheritance,  that 
it  was  instinctive,  and,  above  all,  that  it  had  the  definite 
example  and  precept  of  our  Lord  Himself.  Christian  wor- 
ship possessed  undoubtedly  all  its  essential  elements  in  what 
the  writer  of  the  Acts  calls  "the  Breaking  of  the  Bread  and 
the  Prayers."2  It  had  behind  it  also  the  traditions  and 
customs  of  more  than  a  thousand  years,  and  in  its  distinctly 
Christian  character  it  required  only  time  for  its  develop- 
ment. This  had  to  come  slowly.  For  the  first  three  centuries 
the  Church  was  under  the  ban  of  the  Roman  Empire.  It 
had  to  worship  for  the  most  part  in  secrecy,  and  where  and 
as  it  could.  It  had  few,  if  any,  church  buildings.  It  had  to 
be  content  to  hold  its  services  in  "upper  rooms,"  and  hidden 
retreats  such  as  the  underground  cemeteries  or  catacombs 
at  Rome  afforded  its  members. 

It  is  plain,  then,  to  one  who  accepts  the  authority  of  Christ 
and  His  Scriptures  that  the  way  of  an  ordered  form  of  de- 
votion in  the  public  worship  of  God  is  the  way  which  Christ 
desired,  as  it  was  the  way  which  He  Himself  trod  while  He 
was  on  earth,  and  the  way  in  which  His  Apostles  followed 
after  He  was  gone.  And  so,  these  ancient  liturgic  treasures — 
enriched  as  the  years  went  on,  adapted  to  the  varying  ways 
and  genius  of  nations  and  races,  penetrated  and  suffused 

1  The  Christian  Tear:  Its  Purpose  and  its  History,  p.  35.  See  1  Cor.  iv, 
17;  xi.  2,  16,  Rev.  Ver.;  2  Thess.  ii,  15;  iii,  6;  Acts  xix,  9,  23;  xxiv,  14, 
Rev.  Ver. 

8  ii.  42. 


3o   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


with  the  spirit  of  saints  and  martyrs,  breathing  their  hopes 
and  bearing  the  marks  of  their  conflicts  —  have  been  hal- 
lowed by  the  use  of  more  than  fifty  generations  of  Chris- 
tians, and  claim  our  grateful  reverence  and  use  today. 

It  is  true  that,  in  spite  of  these  strong  sanctions  for  liturgic 
worship,  we  must  be  careful  to  estimate  accurately  the  real 
use  and  purpose  of  forms  of  prayer.  Like  every  other  thing 
in  this  world,  even  the  Holy  Scriptures  themselves,  they  can 
be  perverted  and  abused.  We  must  distinctly  remember 
that  forms  of  prayer,  no  matter  how  beautiful  or  rich  in 
thought,  are  not  in  themselves  prayers.  They  are  at  best 
only  so  many  golden  censers,  such  as  those  which  S.  John 
gazed  on  in  his  great  vision  of  the  opened  Heaven,  and  the 
divine  worship  and  liturgy  which  he  witnessed  there.  To 
be  of  value  in  God's  sight  they  must  be  like  these,  not  mere 
burnished  vessels,  fair  to  the  eye,  but  heaped  with  living 
fires,  and  laden  with  precious  spices  of  penitence  and  love. 
For  that  "incense,"  adds  S.  John,  "is  the  prayers  of  the 
saints."1  The  most  beautiful  of  forms,  not  excepting  even 
that  which  we  call  our  Lord's  own  prayer,  are  but  empty 
vessels  until  we  fill  them  with  our  hearts'  desires.  Only 
then  can  it  be  said  of  them,  as  it  is  said  in  S.  John's  great 
vision  concerning  "the  prayers  of  all  the  saints"  —  "the 
smoke  of  the  incense  ascended  up  before  God."2 


1  Rev.  v,  8. 


*  Rev.  viii,  3,  4. 


CHAPTER  IV 


"They  Continued  Stedfastly  in  the  Breaking 


"  The  bread  which  we  break,  is  it  not  the  communion  of  the  Body  of  Christ?" 


E  have  hitherto  considered  only  the  question  of  "the 


▼  ▼  Prayers,"  that  is,  liturgic  worship  in  general,  or 
rather  the  principle  which  underlies  all  use  of  forms  of  prayer 
in  the  public  worship  of  God.  We  have  seen  that  without 
forms  there  can  be  no  such  thing  as  "common  prayer"; 
that  forms  are  necessary  also  for  reverence,  for  protection 
from  distraction  of  thought  and  from  the  vagaries  or  peculi- 
arities of  individual  ministers,  and  especially  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  faith  from  generation  to  generation.  We  have 
seen  also  how  forms  have  the  positive  sanction,  not  only  of 
the  Old  Testament  and  the  Church  of  Israel,  but  also  of  the 
example  and  the  precept  of  our  Lord,  and  the  practice  of 
His  Apostles.  We  have  now  to  consider  one  other  of  those 
four  bonds  and  marks  of  unity  in  the  Church  as  it  came 
fresh  from  the  hands  of  Christ,  and  in  which  every  Christian 
"continued  stedfastly,"  namely,  "the  Breaking  of  the 
Bread."1 

The  Breaking  of  the  Bread  is  the  one  great  act  of 
united  worship  which  we  know  our  Lord,  with  dying  lips, 
enjoined  upon  His  Church.  It  is  around  this  act,  therefore, 
that  the  whole  liturgic  worship  of  the  Church  has  grown 
up.  This  is  its  heart  and  centre.   The  word  liturgy,  in  fact, 

1  Acts  ii,  42. 


of  the  Bread 


—  1  Cor.  x,  16. 


32    PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


in  its  strict  sense  signifies  only  that  office  which  is  provided 
to  celebrate  in  due  form  this  divine  rite.1 

There  are  five  words  by  which  the  Sacrament  is  called  or 
referred  to  in  the  New  Testament. 

1.  The  Breaking  of  the  Bread  or  its  equivalent  occurs 
only  in  the  following  passages  of  the  New  Testament:  Acts 
ii,  42,  46;  xx,  7,  11;  1  Cor.  x,  16.2  The  reason  for  the  name 
is  of  course  obvious.  The  thought  involved  in  it,  however,  is 
evidently  not  so  much  that  of  eating  or  partaking  of  the 
divine  food,  as  of  the  act  by  which  that  food,  in  the  person 
of  Christ,  became  ours  by  being  broken  and  offered  on  the 
cross.  This  our  Lord  foretold  by  His  action  in  the  Upper 
Room  when  He  took  the  bread  and  "brake  it,"  3  symbolizing 
that  dreadful  event  which  must  take  place  before  His  Body 
can  become  for  all  the  world  the  very  "Bread  of  Heaven" 
and  "of  Life."4 

2.  The  second  name  for  this  holy  Sacrament  in  the  New 
Testament,  The  Lord's  Supper,  occurs  only  in  1  Cor.  xi, 
20,  where  S.  Paul  is  correcting  some  grievous  evils  which  had 
crept  into  its  celebration  in  the  Church  in  Corinth.  Some 
have  been  inclined  to  interpret  the  Apostle  as  speaking  here 
only  of  the  Agape,  or  Love  Feast,6  which  in  those  early  days 

1  Liturgy,  in  Greek,  leitourgia,  is  derived  from  leitos,  public,  or  belong- 
ing to  the  people,  and  ergon,  work.  It  occurs  in  the  following  passages  of 
the  New  Testament,  where  it  is  variously  translated,  "ministration," 
"ministry,"  and  "service:"  S.  Luke  i,  23;  2  Cor.  ix,  12;  Phil,  ii,  17,  30; 
Heb.  viii,  6;  ix,  21.  In  its  application  therefore  to  the  Holy  Communion 
it  early  acquired  the  meaning  of  the  service  or  ministration,  that  is,  the 
special  work  or  service  of  the  people  in  worship. 

2  Some,  with  doubtful  reason,  have  seen  also  in  the  action  of  our  Lord 
on  the  evening  of  His  resurrection,  in  the  home  of  the  two  disciples  of 
Emmaus,  a  reference  to  the  Sacrament.    S.  Luke  xxiv,  35. 

3  S.  Luke  xxii,  19. 

4  S.  John  vi,  48,  etc.  6  Compare  Jude  12,  and  2  Peter  ii,  13. 


"THE  BREAKING  OF  BREAD"  33 

preceded  the  celebration  of  the  Sacrament,  in  evident  imita- 
tion of  the  "supper"  which  preceded  the  Institution  in  the 
Upper  Room,1,  but  which  became  such  a  source  of  abuse 
here  in  Corinth  among  half-trained  converts  from  heathenism, 
that  it  was  soon  abandoned  everywhere  in  the  Church.2  This 
view,  however,  is  untenable  in  the  light  of  history.  A  canon 
of  the  third  council  of  Carthage  in  the  fourth  century  (a.d. 
397)  calls  the  sacrament  "the  Lord's  Supper"  (Coena  Do- 
mini).3 S.  Augustine  in  the  same  century  speaks  of  S.  Paul 
in  his  letter  to  the  Corinthians  as  "giving  to  the  receiving 
of  the  Eucharist  the  name  of  the  Lord's  Supper,"  and  of  his 
reproving  them  "for  not  distinguishing  between  the  Lord's 
Supper  and  an  ordinary  meal";  and  that  "we  neither  com- 
pel, nor  do  we  dare  to  forbid,  any  one  to  break  his  fast  before 
the  Lord's  Supper  on  that  day  on  which  the  Lord  instituted 
the  Supper."4  Again  in  his  "Correction  of  the  Donatists"5 
he  says,  "The  Supper  of  the  Lord  is  the  unity  of  the  body 
of  Christ."6 


1  S.  Luke  xxii,  20. 

2  As  a  partial  remedy  for  the  time  being,  S.  Paul  directed  that  all  should 
"tarry  one  for  another,"  and  that  "if  any  hungered  he  should  eat  at  home," 
and  he  promised  to  "set  the  rest  in  order  when  he  came"  (verses  33,  34). 
The  result  seems  to  show  that,  when  he  came  to  Corinth,  he  put  the  love 
feast  after  the  Celebration  instead  of  before.  "It  is  a  fair  inference  from 
the  language  of  Pliny's  letter  to  Trajan  that,  in  Bithynia,  in  a.d.  112  (when 
he  wrote)  the  severance  had  already  taken  place,  and  that  the  Eucharist 
was  then  celebrated  by  itself  at  an  early  hour  in  the  morning  "  (Warren, 
Lit.  of  Ante-Nicene  Church,  p.  122). 

3  See  Bingham,  Antiq.  XXI,  c.  i,  30. 

4  Ep.  LIY,  v,  7;  vi,  8;  vii,  9,  to  Januarius. 
6  vi,  24. 

8  The  name  was  in  use  in  the  twelfth  century,  as  witnessed  by  a  tract 
on  "the  Lord's  Supper,"  De  Coena  Domini,  attributed  to  Cyprian,  but 
really  the  work  of  Arnold,  a  friend  of  S.  Bernard.  See  note  by  Keble  in 
his  edition  of  Hooker,  Book  V,  Ivi,  9.   "In  the  Middle  Ages  it  was  a  very 


34   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


3.  The  third  word  is  Eucharist.  It  is  more  than  prob- 
able that  when  S.  Paul  is  rebuking  the  Corinthian  Church 
for  another  breach  of  order,  namely,  for  using  a  language  in 
divine  service  which  is  not  understood  by  the  people,  he  is 
referring  to  the  celebration  of  the  same  sacrament  of  which 
he  had  just  been  speaking.  He  asks,  "If  thou  bless  with  the 
spirit  [that  is,  the  bread  and  wine  as  in  1  Cor.  x,  16],  how 
shall  he  that  filleth  the  place  of  the  unlearned  say  the  Amen 
at  thy  giving  of  thanks?"  or,  as  it  is  in  the  original,  "thy 
Eucharist"  (eucharistia).1  Whether  this  be  so  or  not,  it  is 
certain  that  this  name,  which  has  its  origin  in  that  signifi- 
cant action  of  thanksgiving  (eucharistesas)1  by  which  our 
Lord  made  of  common  bread  and  wine  the  sacrament  of  His 
Body  and  Blood,  is  the  name  in  most  common  use  in  primi- 
tive days  and  is  still  the  most  common  name  in  the  Oriental 
Churches.2 


common  name  for  the  Eucharist"  (P.  and  F.  p.  432).  It  is  used  also  in  the 
Catechism  of  the  Council  of  Trent  in  the  sixteenth  century,  chap,  iv,  qu.  5. 
Some  ancient  writers  speak  of  it  as  "The  Mystical  Supper";  among  them 
S.  Hippolytus,  a.d.  220;  Cyril  of  Alexandria,  a.d.  412;  S.  Nilus,  a.d.  440 
(Scudamore,  Not.  Euch.  p.  5). 

1  1  Cor.  xiv,  16. 

2  Four  independent  accounts  of  the  institution  of  the  Holy  Sacrament 
are  given  us  in  the  New  Testament;  one  by  S.  Matthew,  who  was  present 
(xxvi,  26,  etc.);  one  each  by  S.  Mark  and  S.  Luke,  who  were  not  present, 
but  obtained  their  account  from  others  who  were  (S.  Mark  xiv,  22,  etc.; 
S.  Luke  xxii,  19,  etc.);  and  one  by  S.  Paul,  who  tells  us  he  received  his 
knowledge  of  the  institution  directly  from  the  Lord  Jesus  (1  Cor.  xi,  23; 
Eph.  iii,  3;  Gal.  i,  12),  probably  on  that  occasion  which  he  describes  in 
2  Cor.  xii,  when  he  "was  caught  up  into  Paradise,  and  heard  unspeakable 
words."  In  all  these  accounts  the  same  word,  eucharistesas,  is  used  to  de- 
scribe the  act  of  consecration.  It  is  noteworthy,  moreover,  that  in  S.  John 
(who  gives  no  account  of  the  institution,  but,  as  in  the  case  also  of  Holy 
Baptism,  only  gives  our  Lord's  preparatory  teaching  on  the  Sacrament) 
the  same  word,  eucharistesas ■,  is  used  in  that  symbolic  act  of  multiplying  the 


"THE  BREAKING  OF  BREAD"  35 


4.  The  fourth  title  is  the  Holy  Communion.  As  employed 
by  S.  Paul,  however,  this  is  not  so  much  a  name  as  a  descrip- 
tion of  one  aspect  of  the  Sacrament,  namely,  its  purpose  in 
making  each  recipient  a  "partaker  of  the  divine  nature,"1 
"through  the  veil,  that  is  to  say,  the  flesh"  of  God's  Incar- 
nate Son.2  S.  Paul  says,  "The  cup  of  blessing  which  we 
bless,  is  it  not  a  communion  of  the  blood  of  Christ?  The 
bread  which  we  break,  is  it  not  a  communion  of  the  body  of 
Christ?"3  The  Apostle,  it  will  be  observed,  does  not  employ 
it  here  as  a  name  for  the  Sacrament,  but  we  see  here  the  origin 
of  the  name.  It  is  not  until  the  fourth  century  that  we  find 
it  used  as  an  equivalent  for  the  Breaking  of  the  Bread,  or 
the  Eucharist,  or  the  Lord's  Supper,4  that  is,  for  the  Sacra- 
ment itself  and  not  for  participation  of  the  Sacrament,  as 
in  S.  Paul's  use  of  the  word.  It  was  doubtless  the  thought  of 
joint  communion  or  fellowship  with  one  another  as  well  as, 
and  as  a  result  of,  communion  with  Christ  that  caused 
this  one  feature  to  be  adopted  later  as  a  name  of  the 
Sacrament. 

5.  Still  another  name  which  has  a  scriptural  basis  or  origin 

bread  in  the  feeding  of  the  five  thousand,  which  served  as  the  text  for  His 
sermon  in  the  synagogue  of  Capernaum  the  day  following,  when  He  gave 
His  wonderful  discourse  concerning  His  Flesh  and  Blood.  See  S.  John 
vi,  11,  etc.  Though  "Eucharist"  is  not  found  in  the  English  Book,  it  is 
used  in  the  Scottish  Liturgy  and  also  in  the  Office  of  Institution  in  the 
American  Book. 

1  2  Peter  i,  4. 

1  Heb.  x,  20. 

3  1  Cor.  x,  16,  Rev.  Ver. 

4  "S.  Hilary  (Tract,  on  Ps.  lxviii),  a.d.  354,  calls  it  'the  Sacrament  of 
the  Divine  Communion';  and  S.  Basil  (Ep.  xciii,  tome  iii)  a.d.  370,  speaks 
of  those  who  'have  Communion  at  their  own  house.'  S.  Chrysostom  (Horn, 
xxvii  in  1  Cor.),  a.d.  398:  'Hast  thou  not  heard  how  the  three  thousand 
who  were  partakers  of  the  Communion  persevered  continually  in  the 
prayer  and  the  doctrine?'"  (Scudamore,  Not.  Euch.  p.  7). 


36   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


is  "The  Blessing,"  or  "Eulogia."  S.  Paul  has  in  mind  the 
action  of  our  Lord  when  He  "took  bread  and  blessed  it,"1 
in  that  passage  where  he  writes,  "The  cup  of  blessing  which 
we  bless."2  The  name  is  frequently  used  by  S.  Cyril  of 
Alexandria  in  the  fifth  century,  as  when  he  says,  "They 
remain  altogether  without  share  or  taste  of  the  life  in  sancti- 
fication  and  bliss,  who  do  not  receive  the  Son  through  the 
Mystical  Blessing."3 

This  sacred  rite,  called  by  these  various  names,  had  been 
instituted  by  our  Lord  for  the  perpetual  use  of  His  Church 
on  the  night  before  He  suffered.  It  was  a  new  rite,  but  it 
was  also  the  successor  and  fulfilment  of  an  older  one,  the 
greatest  of  all  in  the  Church  of  Israel,  the  Passover.  It  was 
in  fact  the  Christian  Passover.  It  had  nothing  correspond- 
ing to  it  in  the  worship  of  the  synagogues.  There  the 
service  consisted  only  of  prayers,  scripture  lessons,  and 
exhortations.  There  was  neither  altar,  nor  priesthood,  nor 
sacrifice.  The  ordinary  ministrants  were  laymen,  though 
occasionally  a  priest  was  present  to  give  the  benediction  in 
the  words  prescribed  by  the  Law.4  The  synagogue  had  only 
a  platform,  and  a  lectern  or  pulpit,  from  which  the  ruler  led 
the  people  in  their  devotions  and  from  which  they  heard  the 
words  of  lawgiver,  and  prophet,  and  priest  from  the  Scrip- 
tures of  the  Old  Testament,  or  were  addressed  in  sermon  or 
exhortation.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Breaking  of  the  Bread 
had  its  only  counterpart  and  origin  in  the  services  of  the 
Temple,  the  chief  of  which  was  the  Passover,  with  its 
lamb  slain,  and  its  blood  offered  in  sacrifice,  after  which 
the  body  was  roasted  whole  and  eaten  with  bitter  herbs, 

1  S.  Matt,  xxvi,  26. 

2  1  Cor.  x,  16. 

3  Comm.  in  S.  Job.  Evang.  vi,  54.  For  the  use  of  "Mass"  see  chap.  xiii. 

4  Numb,  vi,  22,  etc. 


"THE  BREAKING  OF  BREAD"  37 


unleavened  bread,  and  a  mixed  cup  of  wine  and  water,  in 
the  home.1 

It  was  then  at  this  greatest  of  all  the  feasts,  typifying  and 
foreshadowing,  as  it  had  done  for  fifteen  hundred  years,  the 
one  "full,  perfect,  and  sufficient  sacrifice"  of  the  true  Lamb 
of  God  who  was  to  come,  that  Christ  ordained  the  sacrament 
and  feast  of  the  Breaking  of  the  Bread.  So  closely  did  He 
associate  the  new  act,  which  was  to  be  the  core  and  centre 
of  His  future  worship,  with  that  of  His  older  Church  that 
He  used  some  of  the  material  elements  of  His  last  Pass- 
over, namely,  unleavened  bread,  and  the  mixed  cup  of  wine 
and  water,  as  the  material  elements  of  His  first  Eucharist. 
Of  old  they  had  been  but  bare  and  empty  symbols  pleading 
before  God  the  true  Sacrifice  that  was  to  come,  and  tokens 
to  His  people  of  that  future  Deliverer  who  would  say,  "I 
am  the  living  Bread  which  came  down  from  heaven;  if  any 
man  eat  of  this  Bread  he  shall  live  for  ever:  and  the  Bread 
that  I  will  give  is  My  Flesh,  which  I  will  give  for  the  life  of 
the  world."2  Henceforth  they  are  no  longer  empty  symbols 
and  "shadows,"  but  sacramental  memorials  before  the 
Father  of  "His  precious  death  and  sacrifice,"3  and  also 
instruments  whereby  His  people  are  to  be  kept  united  with 
His  Incarnate  Person  and  made  to  receive  the  benefits  of 
His  atoning  death  and  resurrection.    For  the  day  of  mere 

1  See  Ex.  xii,  1-29.  The  cup  of  wine  is  not  mentioned  here,  though  it 
is  commanded  in  the  continual  burnt  offering  in  Numb,  xxviii,  7,  and  is 
evidently  referred  to  in  the  words  of  the  Psalmist,  "I  will  receive  the  cup 
of  salvation,"  in  Ps.  cxvi,  which  formed  part  of  the  great  paschal  "hymn" 
sung  by  our  Lord  and  the  Twelve  at  the  last  Passover  in  the  Upper  Room. 
This  was  called  the  Hallel,  and  consisted  of  Pss.  cxiii  to  cxviii,  the  first 
portion  of  which  was  sung  during  the  offering  of  the  lambs  in  the  Temple, 
and  the  latter  portion  in  the  home. 

*  S.  John  vi,  51. 

3  Prayer  of  Consecration. 


38   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fc?  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


"shadows"  and  "beggarly  elements 991  is  past.  The  day  of 
realities  has  come.  The  Eternal  Word  has  been  "made 
flesh,,,  and  He  is  "full  of  grace  and  truth.,,2 

It  was  for  this  holy  rite  that  the  Lord  Jesus  had  prepared 
His  disciples  a  year  before  in  His  great  discourse  in  the  syna- 
gogue of  "His  own  city,"3  Capernaum.  His  teaching  there 
about  "eating  His  flesh,  and  drinking  His  blood"  was  very 
mysterious  and  startling,  so  much  so  that  "many  of  His 
disciples  went  back,  and  walked  no  more  with  Him,"  and  He 
turned  sadly  to  the  Twelve  and  asked,  "Will  ye  also  go 
away?"  It  is  then  Peter  answers  for  the  rest,  "Lord,  to 
whom  shall  we  go?  Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life. 
And  we  believe  and  are  sure  that  Thou  art  that  Christ,  the 
Son  of  the  living  God."4  The  mystery  was  just  as  insoluble 
to  them  as  to  others,  but  though  they  could  not  understand, 
they  trusted.  Then  one  year  later  they  found  the  clue  to  all 
their  difficulties  when,  in  the  Upper  Room,5  He  instituted 
the  sacramental  rite  which  gave  them  the  very  things  which 
He  had  promised. 

After  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost  on  Pentecost,  we  see 
in  their  minds  no  trace  of  doubt  or  difficulty.  There  is  no 
more  questioning  as  to  "How  this  man  can  give  us  His  flesh 
to  eat."6  In  fact,  nothing  is  more  remarkable  than  the 
quiet  unhesitating  way  in  which,  hereafter,  the  Apostles 

1  Col.  ii,  17;  Gal.  iv,  9.  3  S.  Matt,  ix,  1. 

2  S.  John  i,  14.  4  S.  John  vi,  66-70. 

6  Jewish  houses  were  usually  provided  with  an  "upper  room,"  "the 
most  honorable  and  the  most  retired  place,  where  from  the  outside  stairs 
entrance  and  departure  might  be  had  without  passing  through  the  house." 
See  Edersheim,  Life  and  Times  of  Jesus,  II,  484.  It  was  doubtless  here, 
"at  home,"  especially  in  view  of  our  Lord's  choice  of  the  room,  that  the 
Christians  were  accustomed  to  have  their  distinctive  act  of  worship,  which 
of  course  was  out  of  the  question  in  the  Temple. 

6  S.  John  vi,  52. 


"THE  BREAKING  OF  BREAD" 


proceed  to  act.  This  new  mysterious  rite,  just  as  mysterious 
as  ever,  becomes  at  once,  and  in  the  most  casual  way,  the 
chief  act  and  the  centre  of  all  their  worship  as  Christians. 
"They  continued  stedfastly  ...  in  the  Breaking  of  the 
Bread,  and  in  the  Prayers. "  Their  old  familiar  service  in 
the  Temple,  with  its  grand  liturgic  setting,  was  indeed  not 
neglected,  but  their  new  rite,  with  its  infinitely  richer  promise, 
was  now  their  distinctive,  and  even  daily,  act  of  Christian 
worship.  And  this  was  necessarily  in  their  homes;  "day 
by  day,  continuing  stedfastly  with  one  accord  in  the  Temple, 
and  breaking  bread  at  home."  Even  long  after  the  Day 
of  Pentecost,  in  every  recorded  instance  where  the  char- 
acter of  Christian  public  worship  is  referred  to  in  the  New 
Testament,  the  Breaking  of  the  Bread  appears  as  the 
central  act.1 


Acts  ii,  46,  Rev.  Ver.;  xx,  7;  Cor.  xi,  20;  xiv,  16. 


CHAPTER  V 


Christian  Worship  in  the  First  Three  Centuries 

"  The  toots  of  the  present  lie  deep  in  the  past,  and  nothing  in  the  past  is  dead 
to  the  man  who  would  learn  how  the  present  came  to  be  what  it  is." 

—  Bishop  Stubbs. 

LET  us  now  in  thought  take  a  journey  backwards  to 
the  age  immediately  succeeding  that  of  the  Apostles. 
What  we  find  there  everywhere  is  the  united  or  "common" 
worship  of  the  Church,  in  liturgical  prayers,  gathering  around 
the  Breaking  of  the  Bread,  or  Holy  Eucharist.  All  the  earliest 
buildings  for  Christian  worship  of  which  we  have  any  record, 
all  allusions  of  historians  or  early  writers  and  preachers,  as 
well  as  all  the  most  ancient  liturgies,  testify  to  the  fact  that 
in  the  first  days  all  such  worship  had  as  its  centre  an  altar 
or  holy  table  1  on  which  were  celebrated  the  sacred  mysteries 
which  our  Lord  had  instituted  to  take  the  place  of  the  Paschal 
memorial  sacrifice  and  feast.  Whether  such  places  for 
Christian  meetings  are  found  in  some  subterranean  chamber 
of  the  Catacombs,  or  some  upper  room  in  a  private  house, 
or  some  transformed  Roman  basilica  or  court  of  justice  after 
the  Empire  became  nominally  Christian,  we  find  the  same 

1  In  the  Old  as  well  as  in  the  New  Testament  the  words  "altar"  and 
"table"  are  used  interchangeably.  In  Ezek.  xli,  22,  we  read,  "The  altar  of 
wood  was  three  cubits  high,  .  .  .  and  he  said  unto  me,  This  is  the  table  that 
is  before  the  Lord."  Compare  Ezek.  xl,  39-44;  xliv,  16;  Mai.  i,  7,  12.  See 
also  S.  Paul's  comparison  of  "the  table  of  the  Lord"  with  the  heathen 
"altar"  or  "table  of  devils"  in  1  Cor.  x,  21.  Bingham  gives  evidence 
beginning  with  Ignatius  and  Irenaeus,  that  the  common,  if  not  exclusive, 
use  in  the  first  two  centuries  was  "altar."   See  Book  VIII,  vi,  sec.  11,  sq. 


IN  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES 


pattern  everywhere.  It  is  that  of  the  ancient  Temple  in 
Jerusalem  with  its  altar  and  its  divinely  appointed  priest- 
hood, and  not  that  of  the  synagogue  with  its  platform  or 
bema,  and  its  lay  services  of  prayer,  and  instruction,  and 
exhortation  alone.  Or  rather  this  earliest  Christian  worship 
combined  both  methods  in  one;  the  prayers,  the  reading  of 
the  Scriptures,  and  the  instruction  of  the  synagogue,  with 
the  memorial  pleading  of  the  one  sacrifice  for  sin,  and  the 
intercessions  and  benedictions  of  the  priests,  which  were 
peculiar  to  the  Temple. 

During  the  ages  of  persecution,  nearly  down  to  313,  but 
little  attempt  was  made  to  build  churches.  Christians  had 
to  meet  where  they  could  in  private  houses  or  temporary 
oratories,  sometimes  "in  dens  and  caves  of  the  earth. "  As 
early,  in  fact,  as  a.d.  259  the  edict  of  the  Emperor  Gallienus 
gave  to  the  Church  for  the  first  time  the  legal  rights  of  a 
religio  licita,  that  is,  of  a  college  or  corporation  in  law.  Hence- 
forth it  could  build  and  hold  churches,  and  freely  worship 
in  them,  and  within  a  short  time,  writes  the  German  historian 
Neander,  "many  splendid  structures  had  already  arisen  in 
the  large  cities."  What  is  very  important  to  note,  however, 
is  that  as  soon  as  persecution  was  past  and  large  churches 
were  built,  only  one  type  is  found,  and  that,  modelled  not 
on  the  synagogue  as  a  place  chiefly  of  instruction,  but  on  the 
Temple  as  a  place  of  worship.1    Descriptions  of  these  first 

1  It  is  surely  very  noteworthy  that  again  and  again  S.  Paul  speaks  of 
the  Church  spiritually,  or  the  individual  member  thereof,  as  "  The  Temple 
of  God,"  but  never  as  a  synagogue.  See  1  Cor.  iii.  16,  17;  vi,  19;  2  Cor. 
vi,  16;  2  Thess.  ii,  4;  also  S.  John  in  Rev.  iii,  12;  vii,  15;  xv,  8.  The 
Apostles  had  no  reason  for  pleasant  recollections  of  the  synagogue,  where 
they  were  often  imprisoned  and  beaten.  Hence  S.  John  speaks  of  "  the 
synagogue  of  Satan,"  Rev.  ii,  9;  iii,  9.  Only  once  in  fact  do  we  find 
the  word  applied  to  a  Christian  "  assembly,"  where  the  Greek  word  is 
"synagogue,"  namely,  in  S.  James  ii,  2. 


42    PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


city  churches  are  given  us  by  Eusebius,  the  Father  of  Church 
History  (a.d.  266-340),  and  other  writers,  and  in  the  "Church 
Orders"  of  the  fourth  century.  (For  the  general  plan  see 
the  frontispiece  facing  title  page  of  this  book.)  From  these 
we  learn  that,  while  details  differ,  the  general  plan  of  all  was 
the  same,  testifying,  as  do  the  Liturgies,  to  one  fundamental 
principle  of  construction  and  worship  which  was  already, 
even  in  the  days  of  persecution,  the  established  rule.  Most 
city  churches  of  the  fourth  century  were  of  the  type  of  the 
cathedral  church  of  Tyre  as  described  by  Eusebius,  namely, 
an  oblong  nave  or  central  portion,  with  semi-circular  apse 
(sometimes  three)  at  the  east,  a  narthex  or  porch  at  the  west, 
and  single  or  double  aisles  on  the  north  and  south.  Some  of 
these  churches  were  round,  some  square,  some  octagonal, 
some  were  in  the  shape  of  a  cross  with  transepts.  But  one 
fundamental  feature  was  common  to  all,  namely,  that  a 
special  place,  generally  at  the  east  end  and  elevated  above 
the  floor  of  the  body  of  the  building,  was  reserved  for 
the  holy  table  or  altar,  and  marked  off  or  closed  in 
by  rails  (cancelli),  or  gates  and  veils,  from  the  nave.  In 
addition  to  these  main  features  there  was  frequently  a 
large  court  or  churchyard  at  the  west,  with  fountain  or 
basin  for  cleansing  the  hands  and  face  before  entering 
the  church.  The  baptistery,  an  oblong  building  with  a 
circular  font  in  the  centre,  was  also  usually  placed  in  this 
courtyard.1 

Concerning  the  synagogue  Canon  Warren  writes:  "It 
should  be  borne  in  mind  that  synagogues  in  the  first  century 
a.d.  were  a  comparatively  modern  institution,  and  had  no 

1  For  the  names  and  uses  of  the  different  parts  of  the  church  see 
Bingham,  Books  VIII  and  XVIII;  Maclean,  Ancient  Church  Orders,  cliap. 
iv;  Early  Christian  Worship,  Lec.  Ill;  Duchesne,  Christian  Worship, 
chap.  xxi. 


IN  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES  43 


hereditary  claim  on  the  reverence  or  affection  of  either  Jews 
or  Christians.  .  .  .  There  is  no  reference  to  synagogues  in 
the  Old  Testament.  .  .  .  Synagogues  were  village  institutes 
and  police  courts  as  well  as  halls  of  worship.  Within  their 
precincts  cases  were  tried,  prisoners  were  sentenced,  and 
the  sentences  were  carried  out.  Our  Lord  said,  'They 
shall  lay  their  hands  on  you,  and  persecute  you,  delivering 
you  up  to  the  synagogues,  and  into  prisons/  'Beware  of 
men,  for  they  will  deliver  you  up  to  the  councils,  and  they 
will  scourge  you  in  their  synagogues.'  1  S.  Paul  tells  how 
'I  imprisoned  and  beat  in  every  synagogue  them  that 
believed  ...  I  punished  them  oft  in  every  synagogue,  and 
compelled  them  to  blaspheme.'2  .  .  .  Surely,  with  such 
painful  and  degrading  associations  and  recollections,  the 
synagogue  would  not  have  been  the  quarter  to  which  the 
first  Christians  would  have  turned  to  find  a  model,  either 
for  their  proceedings  or  their  services.  Their  thought 
would  more  naturally  centre  round  the  Temple,  which  our 
Saviour,  and  His  Apostles  after  Him,  regularly  frequented, 
and  which  was,  par  excellence,  the  house  of  God."  3 

Another  element  lacking  in  the  synagogue  besides  altar, 
sacrifice,  and  priesthood,  was  the  recitation  or  chanting  of 
the  Psalter,  which  has  always  been  a  central  feature  of 
Christian  worship,  as  it  had  been  of  the  worship  of  the 
Temple.  In  regard  to  this  an  eminent  French  Protestant, 
Mons.  E.  de  Pressense,  says:  "Its  cradle  was  not  the  syna- 
gogue, where  the  frigid  service  consisted  only  of  reading  and 
prayer,  without  any  intermingling  songs  of  praise.  Christian 
song  comes  directly  from  the  Temple,  the  offspring  of 
that  grand  Hebrew  poetry  uttered  by  lips  touched  by 

1  S.  Luke  xxi,  12;  S.  Matt,  x,  17;  S.  Luke  xii,  II. 
8  Acts  xxii,  19;  xxvi,  11. 

3  Liturgy  of  the  Ante-Nicene  Churchy  pp.  191,  192. 


44    PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


the  live  coal  from  off  the  altar,  the  sublimest  lyric  expres- 
sions ever  given  to  the  griefs  and  yearnings  of  the  human 
heart.,,  1 

At  the  cleansing  of  the  Temple  it  is  evident  that  our  Lord 
had  that  holy  place  in  mind,  and  not  the  synagogue,  as  the 
model  for  the  future  worship  of  His  Church,  when  He  adopted 
the  prophecy  of  Isaiah  (lvi,  7,  Rev.  Ver.)  as  His  own  and 
said,  "Is  it  not  written,  My  house  shall  be  called  the  house 
of  prayer  for  all  the  nations?"  In  His  Sermon  on  the  Mount 
also,  which  contains  the  laws  for  the  Church  of  "all  the 
nations,"  and  not  merely  for  that  generation  of  the  Jewish 
Church,  our  Lord  implies  that  it  will  have  a  worship  similar 
to  that  of  the  Temple,  with  an  "altar"  to  which  Christians 
will  bring  their  "offerings,"  as  devout  Israelites  had  always 
done  to  the  altar  in  Jerusalem.2 

In  a  similar  manner  S.  Paul  speaks  of  Christians  having  a 
sacrificial  worship  (real  though  unbloody)  corresponding  to 
that  of  the  Jews.  Referring  to  the  worship  of  the  Temple, 
which  still  existed  when  he  wrote  his  epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
(assuming  that  he  is  the  author),  he  comforts  these  Jewish 
Christians,  who  were  taunted  by  their  fellow  countrymen 
with  having  abandoned  the  true  worship  of  God,  by  telling 
them,  "We  [Christians]]  have  an  altar,  whereof  they  have 

1  Christian  Life  and  Practice  in  the  Early  Church,  p.  277;  qu.  by  Warren, 
Lit.  etc.  p.  191.  Oesterley,  in  The  Psalms  in  the  Jewish  Church,  chap,  viii, 
while  admitting  that  "the  original  object"  of  the  synagogue  was  "the  study 
of  the  Law,  rather  than  worship,"  gives  proofs  of  the  later  use  of  the  Psalms. 
There  is  no  reference  to  them,  however,  in  the  New  Testament.  Prof. 
Cheyne  says,  "There  is  no  evidence  that  psalmody  formed  part  of  the  public 
worship  in  the  early  synagogues,"  but  he  adds,  "I  can  with  difficulty  believe 
that  prayer  did  not  include  praise."  Bampton  Lec.  p.  14.  See  also  Bingham, 
XIII,  v,  4. 

1  S.  Matt,  v,  23,  24. 


IN  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES 


no  right  to  eat  which  serve  the  [Jewish]  tabernacle/'  1  that 
is,  who  have  not  accepted  the  faith  that  has  turned  these 
shadows  into  realities.  In  his  first  letter  to  the  Corinthians, 
written  earlier,  he  makes  this  same  comparison  between  the 
Christian  service  and  that  of  the  Temple  with  its  altar 
and  its  sacrifices.  "Behold  Israel  after  the  flesh:  are  not 
they  which  eat  of  the  sacrifices  partakers  of  the  [Jewish] 
altar?"  But  Christians  have  another  and  a  better  altar, 
whereby  they  are  "partakers"  (literally  communicants) 
"of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ."2  All  which  goes 
to  show  that  the  Church  in  its  earliest  days  found  in 
the  Temple,  and  not  in  the  synagogue,  the  model  of  its 
Liturgy.3 

Sacrificial  language  concerning  the  Holy  Eucharist  (offer- 
ing, oblation,  sacrifice)  is  so  common  in  the  writers  of  the 
first  three  centuries,  that  it  is  only  necessary  to  quote  some 
words  of  one  of  the  earliest  of  these,  namely,  Justin  Martyr, 
about  a.d.  139.  Arguing  with  Trypho,  a  Jew,  he  says: 
"We  are  the  true  high  priestly  race,  as  even  God  Himself 
bears  witness,  saying  that  in  every  place  amongst  the  Gentiles 
sacrifices  are  to  be  offered  well  pleasing  to  Him  and  pure. 
So  then  God  referring  beforehand  to  the  sacrifices  which  we 
offer  through  this  Name  —  even  those  which  Jesus  the 
Christ  instituted,  that  is  to  say,  through  the  Eucharist  of 
the  Bread  and  the  Cup  —  and  which  are  presented  by 

1  Heb.  xiii,  10.  Even  the  Puritan  Richard  Baxter  says,  "'We  have  an 
altar  whereof  they  have  no  right  to  eat'  seems  plainly  to  mean  the  Sacra- 
mental Communion."  Christian  Institutes,  i,  p.  304;  qu.  by  Bp.  C.  Words- 
worth on  Heb.  xiii,  10.  "Instances  of  the  use  of  the  word  'table'  or  'holy 
table'  are  comparatively  rare  in  Ante-Nicene  literature."  Warren,  Lit.  of 
Ante-Nicene  Churchy  pp.  70,  71. 

2  1  Cor.  x,  16,  17,  18. 

3  It  is  plain  that  Duchesne  is  mistaken  when  he  writes  that  "the  wor- 
ship of  the  Temple  did  not  influence  the  Christian  Liturgy,"  p.  46. 


46   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


Christians  in  all  places  throughout  the  world,  bears  witness 
that  they  are  well  pleasing  to  Him."  1 

At  the  first,  of  course,  the  Christian  Liturgy,  like  all  God's 
gifts  to  man,  was  only  in  embryo.  All  the  essential  elements 
of  future  growth  were  there  indeed  from  the  beginning,  as 
they  are  in  the  acorn  or  the  egg.  The  development  must 
come  later  according  to  the  genius  of  the  nation  in  which 
the  Church  was  planted.  For  the  Apostles  to  have  made  a 
complete  liturgy  would  have  defeated  this  purpose.  They 
had,  however,  the  words  and  actions  of  our  Lord  distinctly 
in  remembrance.  They  knew  His  great  prayer  of  interces- 
sion, His  solemn  blessing  and  thanksgiving,  and  His  whole 
tone  and  manner  in  instituting  the  great  Mystery.2  More- 
over they  had  the  very  words  of  the  prayer  which  He  had 
given  them  at  their  own  request,3  and  which  they  could  not 
fail  to  use  in  such  an  act  of  united  worship.  But  besides  all 
this  they  had,  as  we  have  already  seen,  that  liturgic  training 
and  instinct  which  could  not  fail  to  make  them  adopt  the 
same  reverent  methods  in  their  worship  as  those  to  which 
both  they  and  their  Master  had  been  accustomed  all  their 
life  long. 

When  therefore  we  come  to  inquire  what  was  the  actual 
custom  of  the  Church  concerning  this  central  act  of  Christian 
worship,  in  the  days  immediately  succeeding  that  of  the 
Apostles,  it  is  not  surprising  to  find  everywhere  one  rule, 
and  one  only,  namely,  that  of  a  liturgical  form,  though 
doubtless  with  some  freedom  as  to  extemporaneous  prayer.4 

1  Dial,  cum  Trypho,  c.  cxvi,  cxvii. 

2  S.  John  xvii;  S.  Matt,  xxvi,  26,  sq.;  S.  Mark  xiv,  22,  sq.;  S.  Luke 
xxii,  19,  sq.;  1  Cor.  xi,  23,  sq. 

3  S.  Luke  xi,  1,  sq. 

4  While  "the  structural  skeleton"  was  the  same  everywhere,  and  forms 
were  no  doubt  in  use  from  the  beginning,  Dr.  Frere  says,  "the  officiant 
was  not  at  first  bound  to  them.    As  time  went  on,  the  liberty  of  using 


IN  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES  47 

In  the  two  earliest  notices  of  Christian  worship  after  the 
death  of  S.  John  (a.d.  100  or  104),  —  the  letter  of  Pliny 
the  Younger,  propraetor  of  Bithynia  from  a.d.  103  to  105, 
to  his  friend  the  Emperor  Trajan  concerning  the  Christians 
in  his  province,  and  the  Apology  of  Justin  Martyr,  born 
about  a.d.  114 —  the  Holy  Communion,  or  Eucharist,  as 
Justin  calls  it,  is  described  as  the  chief  act  of  Christian 
worship,  though  few  details  are  given. 

Pliny's  letter  was  written  only  four  years  at  the  utmost 
after  the  death  of  S.  John,  and  already  the  Christians  had 
become  numerous  in  his  province.  Describing  their  worship 
he  says  they  "were  accustomed  to  meet  on  a  set  day,  before 
it  was  light,  and  to  sing  a  hymn  together  alternately  [_secum 
vicissim,  that  is,  antiphonally,  like  our  modern  choirs,  as 
well  as  those  of  the  Temple]]  to  Christ  as  a  God,  and  to  bind 
themselves  by  a  sacrament  [in  Latin,  sacramentum,  an  oath 
or  mystery  for  it  acquired  the  double  meaning]  .  .  .  not  to 
commit  thefts,  robberies,  or  adulteries,"  etc.,  and  he  adds, 
"after  this  was  done,  their  custom  was  to  depart,  and  meet 
together  again  to  take  food."  1 

extempore  forms  was  curtailed,  till  it  was  restricted  to  special  orders  of 
the  ministry,  such  as  the  'prophets'  or  the  episcopate;  and  finally  to  all 
intents  and  purposes  it  disappeared."  Procter  and  Frere,  A  New  Hist, 
of  the  B.  C.  P.,  pp.  433-4. 

1  Ep.  x,  96.  The  food  here  is  evidently  the  Agape,  or  feast  of  charity 
or  love  (Jude  12),  for  the  abuse  of  which  we  saw  S.  Paul  rebuking  severely 
the  Church  in  Corinth,  and  which,  as  a  result  of  his  promised  visit  shortly 
afterwards  to  that  city  for  the  purpose  of  "setting  in  order"  such  irregu- 
larities, was  made  to  follow,  instead  of  preceding,  the  celebration  of  the 
Lord's  Supper.  See  1  Cor.  xi,  20  to  end.  In  the  next  century  Tertullian 
says,  "The  Sacrament  of  the  Eucharist  we  receive  in  assemblies  held  even 
before  dawn"  (De  Cor.  'Mil.  c.  iii,  torn,  iv,  p.  293),  while  the  love-feast  was 
postponed  till  the  evening.  The  love-feast  "survived,  especially  on  the 
occasion  of  a  funeral,  down  to  at  least  the  fifth  century"  (Tertullian,  Apol. 
39-    See  Duchesne,  p.  49,  note). 


48   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

The  "hymn"  (carmen)  spoken  of  by  Pliny  may  have  been 
one  of  the  Psalms,  especially  those  of  the  Hallel,  cxiii  to 
cxviii,  sung  by  our  Lord  and  His  Apostles  at  the  institution 
of  the  Sacrament  in  the  Upper  Room.1  But  besides  the  whole 
Psalter,  the  Magnificat,  the  Benedictus,  the  Gloria  in  Excelsis, 
and  the  Nunc  Dimittis,2  there  were  doubtless  already  many 
Christian  hymns  current  in  the  Church,  of  which  we  are 
given  fragments  quoted  by  S.  Paul  and  S.  John.3 

Justin,  surnamed  Martyr,  was  a  heathen  philosopher,  born 
in  Palestine  at  what  is  now  called  Nablous  about  a.d.  iio, 
and  suffered  martyrdom  in  165.  He  became  a  Christian 
before  140,  and  addressed  an  Apology  or  Defence  of  the 
Christians  to  the  Emperor  Antoninus  Pius  (1 36-161),  and 
the  Roman  Senate,  in  which  he  gives  the  following  description 
of  the  worship  of  Christians: 

"On  the  day  called  Sunday,  all  who  live  in  cities  or  in  the 
country  gather  together  to  one  place,  and  the  memoirs  of 
the  apostles  or  the  writings  of  the  prophets  are  read,  as  long 
as  time  permits;  then,  when  the  reader  has  ceased,  the  presi- 
dent verbally  instructs,  and  exhorts  to  the  imitation  of  these 
good  things.  Then  we  all  rise  together  and  pray,  and,  as 
we  before  said,  when  our  prayer  is  ended,  bread  and  wine 
and  water  are  brought,  and  the  president  in  like  manner 
offers  prayers  and  thanksgivings  to  the  utmost  of  his  power 
[and,  at  considerable  length,  as  in  chap,  lxv],  and  the  people 
assent,  saying  Amen;  and  there  is  a  distribution  to  each, 
and  a  participation  of  that  over  which  thanks  have  been 
given,  and  to  those  who  are  absent  a  portion  is  sent  by  the 
deacons.    And  they  who  are  well-to-do,  and  willing,  give 

1  S.  Matt,  xxvi,  30.  2  S.  Luke  i,  46-56;  68-80;  ii,  14;  29-33. 

3  See  the  following  passages:  Eph.  v,  14;  1  Tim.  iii,  16;  Rev.  iv,  11; 
v.  9,  10,  12,  13;  vii,  12;  xi,  17;  xii,  10,  II,  12;  xv,  3,  4;  xix,  I,  6,  7.  See 
also -Eph.  v,  19,  Col.  iii,  16,  and  Acts  xvi,  25. 


IN  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES  49 


what  each  thinks  fit;  and  what  is  collected  is  deposited  with 
the  president,  who  succors  the  orphans  and  widows,  and  those 
who,  through  sickness  or  any  other  cause,  are  in  want,  and 
those  who  are  in  bonds,  and  the  strangers  sojourning  among 
us;  and  in  a  word  takes  care  of  all  who  are  in  need.  Sunday- 
is  the  day  on  which  we  all  hold  our  common  assembly,  be- 
cause it  is  the  first  day  on  which  God,  having  wrought  a 
change  in  the  darkness  and  matter,  made  the  world;  and 
Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour  on  the  same  day  rose  from  the 
dead.',  1 

"And  this  food  is  called  among  us  Eucharistia  [Eucharist], 
of  which  no  one  is  allowed  to  partake  but  the  man  who  be- 
lieves that  the  things  which  we  teach  are  true,  and  who  has 
been  washed  with  the  washing  that  is  for  the  remission  of 
sins,  and  unto  regeneration,  and  who  is  so  living  as  Christ 
has  enjoined.  For  not  as  common  bread  and  common  drink 
do  we  receive  these;  but  in  like  manner  as  Jesus  Christ  our 
Saviour,  having  been  made  flesh  by  the  Word  of  God,  had 
both  flesh  and  blood  for  our  salvation,  so  likewise  have  we 
been  taught  that  the  food  which  is  blessed  by  the  prayer 
of  His  Word,  and  from  which  our  blood  and  flesh  by  trans- 
mutation are  nourished,  is  the  flesh  and  blood  of  that  Jesus 
who  was  made  flesh."  2 

It  is  evident  that,  in  this  defence  addressed  to  a  heathen 
Emperor  and  Senate  within  forty  years  after  the  death  of 
S.  John,  Justin  is  confining  himself  to  the  bare  order  of  the 
service  followed  in  the  Christian  congregations.  It  could 
not  be  expected  that,  in  such  a  document,  he  would  give  much 
detail,  or  any  formularies  of  prayer  that  were  employed. 
His  omissions,  however,  can  be  made  good  by  the  help  of 
Christian  documents  belonging  to  the  same  period.  One  of 
the  earliest  of  these  is  found  in  the  epistle  of  Clement,  Bishop 

1  First  Apology,  chap.  Ixvii.  2  Chap.  lxvi. 


5o   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


of  Rome,  to  the  Corinthians,  written  before  the  year  ioo.1 
This  affords  us  at  least  an  illustration  of  the  kind  of  prayer 
which  the  rulers  of  the  Church  were  accustomed  to  employ 
at  their  gatherings  for  worship.1 

Following  is  a  portion  of  the  prayer  recorded  by  Clement: 

Thou  hast  opened  the  eyes  of  our  hearts  that  they  may 
know  Thee,  Thou  the  sole  Highest  among  the  highest,  the 
Holy  One  who  rests  in  the  midst  of  the  holy  ones.  Thou 
who  abasest  the  insolence  of  the  proud,  who  scatterest  the 
machinations  of  the  people,  who  exaltest  the  humble  and 
puttest  down  the  mighty;  Thou  who  givest  riches  and 
poverty,  death  and  life,  sole  Benefactor  of  spirits,  God  of  all 
flesh;  Thou  whose  regard  penetrates  the  abyss,  and  scans 
the  works  of  men;  Thou  who  art  our  help  in  danger;  Thou 
who  savest  us  from  despair,  Creator  and  Overseer  of  all 
spirits;  Thou  who  hast  multiplied  the  nations  upon  earth, 
and  chosen  from  among  them  those  who  love  Thee  through 
Jesus  Christ,  Thy  well-beloved  Servant,  by  whom  Thou 
hast  instructed,  sanctified,  and  honored  us.  We  beseech 
Thee,  O  Master,  be  our  help  and  succor.  Be  the  salvation 
of  those  of  us  who  are  in  tribulation;  take  pity  on  the  lowly, 
raise  up  them  that  fall,  reveal  Thyself  to  those  who  are  in 
need,  heal  the  ungodly,  and  restore  those  who  have  gone 
out  of  the  way.  Appease  the  hunger  of  the  needy,  deliver 
those  among  us  who  suffer  in  prison,  heal  the  sick,  comfort 
the  faint-hearted;  that  all  people  may  know  that  Thou  art 
the  only  God,  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Thy  Servant,  and  that  we 
are  Thy  people  and  the  sheep  of  Thy  pasture.  .  .  .  We  con- 
fess Thee  through  the  High  Priest  and  Ruler  of  our  souls, 
Jesus  Christ,  through  whom  glory  and  majesty  be  to  Thee 
now,  and  throughout  all  generations,  for  ever  and  ever. 
Amen.2 

1  Clement  is  probably  the  same  person  mentioned  by  S.  Paul  as  one  of 
his  "fellow  labourers"  in  Philippi,  which  was  a  Roman  "colony"  (Phil, 
iv,  3;  Acts  xvi,  12).  He  is  thus  identified  by  Eusebius,  the  historian  of 
the  Church,  writing  in  the  fourth  century  {Hist.  Eccl.,  iii,  16).  S.  Paul  says 
his  "name  is  in  the  Book  of  Life." 

2  1  Ep.  59-61,  qu.  by  Duchesne,  Christian  Worship,  pp.  51,  52. 


IN  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES 


The  Didache,  or  Doctrine  of  the  Apostles,  a  document  dis- 
covered in  Constantinople  in  1873  by  Bryennios  Philotheos, 
at  that  time  head-master  of  the  higher  Greek  School  in  that 
city,  but  later  the  Metropolitan  of  Nicomedia,  is  recognized 
by  scholars  as  "a  very  ancient  writing,  contemporary,  at 
the  latest,  with  S.  Justin"  (a.d.  1 10-165).  In  this  we  find 
the  following: 

"As  to  the  Eucharist,  we  give  thanks  in  this  wise.  First 
for  the  chalice:  'We  thank  Thee,  our  Father,  for  the  Holy 
Vine  of  David,  Thy  Servant,  which  Thou  hast  made  known 
to  us  by  Jesus  Thy  Servant.   Glory  to  Thee  for  evermore !' 

"For  the  bread:  'We  thank  Thee,  our  Father,  for  the  life 
and  the  knowledge  which  Thou  hast  made  known  to  us  by 
Jesus,  Thy  Servant.  Glory  to  Thee  for  evermore!  As  the 
elements  of  this  bread,  scattered  on  the  mountains,  were 
brought  together  into  a  single  whole,  may  Thy  Church  in 
like  manner  be  gathered  together  from  the  ends  of  the  earth 
into  Thy  kingdom;  for  Thine  is  the  glory  and  the  power, 
through  Jesus  Christ,  for  evermore  V 

"After  you  are  satisfied  return  thanks  thus:  'We  thank 
Thee,  Holy  Father,  for  Thy  holy  Name,  which  Thou  hast 
made  to  dwell  in  our  hearts,  for  the  knowledge,  faith,  and 
immortality  which  Thou  hast  revealed  to  us  through  Jesus, 
Thy  Servant.  Glory  to  Thee  for  evermore!  It  is  Thou, 
mighty  Lord,  who  hast  created  the  universe  for  the  glory  of 
Thy  Name,  who  hast  given  to  men  meat  and  drink  that  they 
may  enjoy  them  in  giving  Thee  thanks.  But  to  us  Thou 
hast  given  spiritual  meat  and  drink,  and  life  eternal  through 
Thy  Servant.  We  give  Thee  thanks  for  everything,  because 
Thou  art  mighty.   Glory  to  Thee  for  evermore  I'"1 

During  the  first  three  Christian  centuries,  however,  we 
find  no  record  of  a  complete  liturgy.  "There  may  be  several 
reasons  assigned  for  this,"  Bingham  says.  "One  is  that  the 
Bishops  at  first  made  every  one  their  own  liturgy  for  the 


1  Duchesne,  pp.  52,  53. 


52   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


private  use,  as  we  may  call  it,  of  their  own  particular  churches. 
And  therefore  the  use  of  them  not  extending  further  than  the 
precincts  of  their  own  dioceses,  there  was  little  knowledge 
of  them  beyond  the  bounds  of  those  churches,  and  not  much 
care  to  preserve  them  but  only  for  the  use  of  such  churches, 
for  which  they  were  particularly  designed.  That  every 
Bishop  had  at  first  this  power  and  privilege  to  compose  and 
order  the  form  of  Divine  Service  for  his  own  church,  I  have 
showed  in  another  place."  1 

A  second  reason  is  seen  in  the  fact  that,  down  to  the  year 
313,  when  Constantine,  the  first  Christian  Emperor,  pro- 
claimed religious  toleration,  the  Church  was  again  subject  to 
persecution  as  an  illegal  society  (religio  illicita)  by  the  pagan 
government  of  Rome.  During  this  period,  Bingham  says, 
"It  is  not  improbable  but  that,  as  a  late  learned  French 
writer  [Renaudot]  has  observed,  the  ancient  liturgies  were 
for  some  ages  only  certain  forms  of  worship  committed  to 
memory,  and  known  by  practice,  rather  than  committed  to 
writing.  .  .  .  This  seems  very  probable,  because  in  the  per- 
secutions under  Diocletian  [a.d.  303],  though  a  strict  inquiry 
was  made  after  the  books  of  Scripture,  and  other  things 
belonging  to  the  Church,  which  were  often  delivered  up  by 
the  traditores  [Christian  traitors~\  to  be  burnt,  yet  we  never 
read  of  any  ritual  books,  or  books  of  Divine  Service,  deliv- 
ered up  among  them.  .  .  .  We  are  not  thence  to  conclude 
(as  some  weak  men  might  be  inclined  to  do)  that  there- 
fore they  had  no  liturgies  or  set  form  of  Divine  Worship  in 
these  persecuting  ages  of  the  Church;  because  there  are 
undeniable  evidences  to  the  contrary;  but  we  are  only  to 
conclude  that  they  did  not  so  generally  compile  them  in 
books  as  in  after  ages,  but  used  them  by  memory,  and  made 
them  familiar  to  the  people  by  known  and  constant  prac- 

1  Antiq.  Book  XIII,  chap,  v,  sect.  i. 


IN  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES  53 


tice,  as  many  now  use  forms  of  prayer  at  this  day  without 
committing  them  to  writing."  1 

This  absence  of  written  liturgies  was  doubtless  due  also 
to  that  disciplina  arcani,  or  rule  of  secrecy,  which  grew  up 
in  the  early  days  out  of  a  mistaken  or  exaggerated  view  of 
our  Lord's  command  "not  to  cast  pearls  before  swine,"  2 
which  forbade  heathen  or  unbelievers  to  be  present  at  the 
administration  of  Baptism  or  the  Holy  Communion,  and 
which  withheld  from  them  the  highest  teaching  of  the 
Church  in  regard  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  and  the 
sacraments.  This  rule  evidently  did  not  exist  in  the  days  of 
S.  Paul,  for  he  speaks  of  the  possibility  of  unbelievers  coming 
into  Christian  assemblies,3  nor  in  the  second  century,  when 
Justin  Martyr  wrote  freely  about  Christian  belief  and  prac- 
tice, though  with  proper  reserve.  Bingham  considers  that 
it  did  not  originate  before  the  beginning  of  the  third  century.4 
Though  proceeding  from  good  motives,  the  disciplina 
arcani  only  provoked  persecution.  It  caused  suspicion  and 
false  inferences  in  the  minds  of  the  heathen  and  their  rulers, 
as  all  secrecy  is  apt  to  do.  In  later  days,  even  in  heathen 
countries,  a  reverent  prudence  has  been  found  a  better  ful- 
filment of  Christ's  command  about  "casting  pearls"  than 
this  doctrine  of  reserve.  It  is  for  this  and  similar  reasons 
that,  during  the  first  three  centuries,  "we  find  only  isolated 
references,  passing  allusions  [to  the  liturgy  and  worship  of 
the  Church],  scattered  among  authors  of  the  most  diverse 
character."  5  When  we  reach  the  fourth  century,  how- 
ever, all  is  different.  There,  like  some  underground  river,  it 
emerges  into  the  light  of  day. 

1  Antiq.  Book  XIII,  chap,  v,  sect.  3.  1  1  Cor.  xiv,  23-26. 

1  S.  Matt.  vii.  6.  4  Antiq.  Book  X,  chap,  v,  3. 

8  Duchesne,  p.  54.  For  these  allusions,  etc.  see  Bingham,  Antiq.  Book 
XIII,  c.  v,  4,  5,  6. 


54   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

What  is  true,  moreover,  of  liturgies  is  true  also  of 
churches. 

We  could  not  expect  to  find  references  to  the  character 
of  church  buildings  in  the  pages  of  the  New  Testament  in- 
asmuch as  Christians  had  at  first  to  worship  just  as  they  best 
could,  in  private  rooms  or  in  the  open.  While  under  the 
ban  of  the  Roman  Empire  until  313,  as  already  stated, 
their  services  had  to  be  conducted  for  the  most  part  in 
secret,  as  in  the  Catacombs  or  subterranean  cemeteries  of 
the  city  of  Rome.  The  only  reference  we  find  in  the  New 
Testament  to  the  accessories  of  Christian  worship  are  note- 
worthy, however,  as  showing  what  was  its  real  centre. 
These  are  the  Eucharistic  Altar  or  Holy  Table,  and  the 
Eucharistic  Cup  or  Chalice.1  Though  we  find  a  few  refer- 
ences to  church  buildings  in  the  third  century  by  Cyprian, 
Tertullian,  and  Origen,2  it  is  not  until  the  fourth  century, 
when  the  ban  was  removed  under  Constantine,  that  we 
begin  to  find  detailed  descriptions  of  buildings  and  services. 

The  earliest  account  of  church  buildings  is  given  in  the 
Didascalia,  a  document  which  is  dated  by  scholars  as  of  the 
year  250,  and  was  later  incorporated  into  the  so-called 
Apostolic  Constitutions  (a.d.  375).  This  is  a  treatise  on 
Church  life,  and  incidentally  mentions  "holy  churches,"  with 
presbyters'  seats  "in  the  part  of  the  house  which  is  turned 
to  the  east,"  the  Bishop's  throne  in  the  midst  of  them;  the 
laymen  also  sitting  "in  another  part  turned  to  the  east,"  be- 
hind the  presbyters;  the  women  behind  them,  while  all  pray 
toward  the  east.3  From  other  Church  orders  of  the  fourth 
century  we  learn  that  the  eastern  end  of  the  building,  the 

1  1  Cor.  x,  16,  21 J  xi.  25-28;  Heb.  xiii,  10. 

2  See  Warren,  Liturgy  of  Ante-Nicene  Ch.y  pp.  67-73. 

3  See  Maclean,  Ancient  Church  Orders,  p.  35;  Warren,  Lit.  of  A.-N.  Ch.f 
pp.  43,  44. 


IN  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES 


bema  or  sanctuary,  was  raised  three  steps  above  the  nave, 
and  upon  this  was  placed  the  altar  with  the  Bishop's  throne 
behind  it,  and  the  seats  of  the  presbyters  in  a  semicircle  on 
either  side  of  him.  The  deacons  arrange  the  congregation, 
attend  the  door,  and  keep  order.  There  are  chambers  to- 
ward the  east,  to  the  north  and  south  of  the  sanctuary,  which 
are  used  as  sacristies  by  the  clergy.  The  church  is  like  a 
ship  (Latin,  navis,  hence  nave) ;  the  Bishop  is  the  helmsman, 
the  priests  are  his  officers,  the  deacons  in  trim  garments  are 
sailors  and  head  rowers,  the  laymen  are  passengers. 

A  plan  of  the  round  Church  of  the  Resurrection  (Anas- 
tasis),  built  by  Constantine  early  in  the  fourth  century  over 
the  Holy  Sepulchre,  and  of  the  Basilica  of  the  Holy  Cross, 
built  close  by  to  the  west,  with  a  porch  or  court  connecting 
the  two,  will  be  found  in  the  Lectures  of  S.  Cyril,  Arch- 
bishop of  Jerusalem,  translated  by  R.  W.  (afterwards  Dean) 
Church  (Oxford,  1838),  with  the  description  given  by  Euse- 
bius  the  Church  historian,  on  which  the  plan  is  based.1 
It  was  in  this  basilica  that  the  lectures  to  his  candidates 
for  Baptism  were  delivered  by  S.  Cyril  in  the  Lent  of 
347  or  349.  In  the  recently  discovered  Peregrinatio  of  a 
lady  from  Gaul  named  Etheria  (or  Silvia)  we  have  a  very 
interesting  account  of  the  churches  which  she  visited  in 
that  city  about  the  year  385^ 

These  descriptions  and  allusions  give  unmistakable  cor- 
roboration to  the  testimony  of  all  the  liturgies  that  the 
earliest  worship  of  the  Christian  Church  was  based,  not  on 
that  of  the  synagogue  with  its  platform,  and  reading  desk, 
and  lay  officials  only,  but  on  that  of  the  Temple  with  its 
altar,  its  priesthood,  and  its  sacrificial  service. 


1  Pp.  xxiv-xxix. 

2  See  Duchesne.  Christian  Worship,  pp.  490-523. 


CHAPTER  VI 


The  Parent  Liturgies 

"  The  same  kind  of  synthetic  criticism  which  traces  back  all  known  languages 
to  three  original  forms  of  speech,  can  also  trace  back  the  multitude  of  dif- 
fering Liturgies  which  are  used  by  the  various  Churches  of  East  and  West 
to  a  few,  —  that  is  to  say,  four  or  five,  —  normal  types,  all  of  which  have 
certain  strong  features  of  agreement  with  each  other,  pointing  to  the  same 
liturgical  fountain."  —  J.  H.  Blunt. 

DURING  the  years  that  the  Church  was  under  the  ban 
of  the  Roman  Empire  as  an  illegal  or  unlicensed 
religion  (religio  illicita),  suspected  as  hostile  to  the  imperial 
government,  with  which  the  worship  of  the  heathen  gods 
was  inextricably  entwined,  it  was  natural  that  little  progress 
would  be  made  in  rendering  the  services  of  the  Church  with 
much  external  beauty.  There  were  few  permanent  church 
buildings.  There  were  lulls,  indeed,  when  the  rulers  ceased 
to  persecute,  but  no  one  knew  when  the  order  might  go  out 
to  crush  the  new  religion.  The  Christians  had  to  gather  as 
best  they  could.  Necessity  knew  no  law.  A  table  or  a 
shelf  would  serve  as  an  altar.  Ordinary  dress  would  suffice 
for  a  vestment.  Instrumental  music  was  impossible.  Yet 
in  spite  of  all  these  disadvantages  it  is  abundantly  evident 
that  the  worship  of  the  Church  everywhere  was  marked  by 
extreme  solemnity  and  dignity.  In  all  the  glimpses  we  ob- 
tain during  this  period  we  find  no  trace  of  eccentricity  or 
familiarity  in  the  presence  of  God.  The  Breaking  of  the 
Bread  or  Eucharist  is  the  centre  round  which  all  worship 
gathers,  and  the  tone  of  the  prayers  is  one  of  profound 
reverence  and  elevation  of  thought. 


THE  PARENT  LITURGIES 


57 


Though  the  liturgies  in  the  earliest  days  were  not  generally 
committed  to  writing  for  the  reason  that  I  have  already 
given,  it  is  unquestioned  that  the  use  of  them,  though  in  a 
somewhat  fluid  state,  in  the  first  three  centuries  was  uni- 
versal. The  absence  of  original  documentary  evidence  of 
this  fact  need  not  surprise  us.  When  it  is  remembered  that 
out  of  all  the  manuscript  copies  of  the  New  Testament,  which 
must  have  existed  in  these  three  centuries,  not  one  has 
come  down  to  our  own  day,  and  only  two  from  the  fourth 
and  two  from  the  fifth  century,  we  need  not  wonder  that  we 
have  no  manuscript  of  the  liturgies  of  this  period.  This  fact 
is  all  the  more  striking  when  it  is  recalled  that  the  New 
Testament  was  an  unchangeable  record,  possessing  the 
highest  possible  authority  as  containing  God's  final  revela- 
tion to  men,  whereas  the  liturgies,  while  clearly  defined  in 
their  general  character,  were  variable  according  to  the  people 
or  race  among  whom  they  were  used,  and  subject  to  revision 
and  enrichment  at  the  hands  of  the  Bishops  of  every  diocese. 
It  is  not,  then,  to  be  expected  that  manuscript  copies  of 
the  many  forms  of  the  Liturgy  would  be  so  carefully  pre- 
served and  handed  on  to  future  ages  as  were  the  sacred 
Scriptures. 

Modern  liturgical  scholars  are  generally  agreed  in  reckoning 
all  the  ancient  liturgies  in  existence  today,  of  which  there 
are  more  than  a  hundred,  as  traceable  to  six  principal  types 
known  by  the  names  of  the  Apostles  with  whom  they  were 
traditionally  connected,  or  by  the  names  of  the  places  in 
which  they  have  been  in  use.  These  are  (i)  the  Syrian,  of 
S.  James;  (2)  the  Egyptian  or  Alexandrian,  of  S.  Mark;  (3) 
the  Persian,  of  SS.  Adeus  and  Maris,  including  that  of  the 
Christians  of  S.  Thomas  on  the  Malabar  coast  of  India;  (4) 
the  Byzantine,  of  S.  Chrysostom,  represented  by  the  present 
Greek  and  Armenian  rites;  (5)  the  Ephesine,  of  S.  John  or 


58   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

S.  Paul;  (6)  the  Roman,  of  S.  Peter,  originally  Greek  for 
three  centuries,  and  not  Latin. 

The  Syrian  Liturgy  was  that  which  was  used  throughout 
the  patriarchates  of  Jerusalem  and  Antioch,  which  included 
the  countries  of  Judea,  Syria,  Mesopotamia,  and  some  prov- 
inces of  Asia  Minor.  This  liturgy,  Palmer  says,  "merits 
our  particular  attention  for  several  reasons.  First,  because 
the  Church  of  Jerusalem  was  the  mother  Church  of  Christen- 
dom, and  the  faithful  first  received  the  title  of  Christians  at 
Antioch; 1  secondly,  because  the  Liturgy  used  there  appears 
likewise  to  have  prevailed  to  a  great  extent  in  the  adjoining 
regions;  and  thirdly,  because  we  have  more  ancient  and 
numerous  notices  of  this  Liturgy  in  the  writings  of  the 
Fathers  than  of  any  other  in  existence."  2 

This  does  not  imply  that  the  liturgies  now  in  use  in  these 
Churches  have  remained  absolutely  unchanged  through  all 
these  centuries.  That  is  not  true  of  any  liturgy.  Many  re- 
visions and  enrichments  take  place  from  time  to  time  in  all 
liturgies  in  adaptation  to  changed  conditions  or  new  needs. 
Among  men  specially  gifted  for  this  purpose  Basil,  commonly 
called  "the  Great,"  Bishop  of  Caesarea  in  Cappadocia  about 
a.d.  370,  whose  patriarchate  extended  from  the  Hellespont 
to  the  Euphrates,  has  a  most  prominent  place.  It  is  this 
improved  form  of  S.  Basil  which  has  been  used  from  time 
immemorial  throughout  the  whole  of  Asia  Minor.3 

The  Byzantine  seems  to  be  only  another  form  of  this 
Liturgy  of  S.  James.  It  still  bears  the  name  of  S.  Chrysos- 
tom,  "the  golden-mouthed"  Bishop  of  Constantinople,  as 

1  Acts  xi,  26. 

2  Origines  Lit.y  I,  pp.  15,  19.  A  list  of  sixty-four  liturgies  belonging  to 
this  family  is  given  by  Brightman  in  Lit.  Eastern  and  Westerny  pp.  Iviii- 
Ixi.  See  also  Neale  and  Littledale,  Prim.  Lit.  pp.  xi,  xii. 

3  Palmer,  I,  45,  48. 


THE  PARENT  LITURGIES 


59 


enriched  by  him  while  he  was  still  a  priest  of  the  Church  in 
Antioch  (386-397).  This  is  today  "the  normal  Liturgy  of 
the  Eastern  Church.,,  1 

It  is  concerning  the  many  forms  of  this  great  orien- 
tal liturgy  used  throughout  the  East  that  Palmer  writes: 
"Whoever  compares  these  venerable  monuments  will  not 
fail  to  perceive  a  great  and  striking  resemblance  throughout. 
He  will  readily  acknowledge  their  derivation  from  one  com- 
mon source;  and  will  admit  that  they  furnish  sufficient 
means  for  ascertaining  all  the  substance,  and  many  of  the 
expressions,  which  were  used  in  the  solemn  Anaphora  of  the 
partriarchates  of  Antioch  and  Jerusalem,  before  the  Council 
of  Chalcedon,  a.d.  451."  2 

Concerning  the  earliest  form  of  the  parent  liturgy  we 
obtain  our  knowledge  chiefly  from  four  sources,  (1)  The 
Catechetical  Lectures  of  S.  Cyril,  Bishop  of  Jerusalem 
in  a.d.  349;  (2)  The  Prayer  Book  of  Bishop  Sarapion, 
the  contemporary  and  friend  of  Athanasius  (c.  a.d.  350); 
(3)  the  collection  of  early  documents  of  the  Church  called 
The  Apostolical  Constitutions;  and  (4)  The  Sermons  of 
S.  John  Chrysostom,  Bishop  of  Constantinople,  a.d.  397. 

(1)  Cyril  delivered  his  Catechetical  Lectures  about 
the  year  347  when  he  was  still  a  priest  of  the  Church  in 
Jerusalem.  They  were  instructions  addressed  to  candidates 
preparing  for  Baptism,  Confirmation,  and  Holy  Communion. 

1  Neale  and  Littledale,  p.  xx.  Duchesne  says,  "It  has  ended  by  sup- 
planting the  older  liturgies  in  all  the  Greek  patriarchates  of  the  East.  It  is 
in  use  in  the  national  Church  of  Greece,  and  in  those  of  Servia,  Bulgaria, 
Roumania,  etc.  ...  In  these  latter  countries,  where  the  liturgical  language 
is  not  Greek,  translations  are  employed  which  are  made  from  the  Greek 
text  used  in  the  Patriarchate  of  Constantinople.  ...  In  Greece  the  litur- 
gical language  is  Greek;  in  Georgia,  Georgian;  in  Roumania,  Roumanian; 
in  the  other  countries  Slavonic."   Christian  Worship,  pp.  71,  72,  and  note. 

2  Orig.  Lit>  pp.  28,  29.    For  what  is  meant  by  Jnapbora,  see  p.  67. 


6o   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


The  twenty-third  and  last  of  these  lectures,  as  "the  finish 
to  their  spiritual  edification,"  gives  an  account  of  the  holy 
Sacrament  as  it  was  celebrated  in  that  city.  He  describes 
briefly  one  after  another  the  different  parts  of  the  service. 
Assuming  that  the  bread  and  wine  have  already  been  brought 
to  the  altar,  he  begins  by  speaking  of  the  washing  of  the 
hands  of  the  priest  "as  a  symbol,"  he  says,  "that  ye  ought  to 
be  pure  from  all  sinful  deeds";  of  the  kiss  of  charity1  as 
"the  sign  that  our  souls  have  banished  all  remembrance  of 
wrongs";  the  Sursum  Corda,  "Lift  up  your  hearts,"  followed 
by  "Let  us  give  thanks  to  the  Lord";  the  Sanctus,  or  Trisa- 
gion,  "Holy,  Holy,  Holy";  the  prayer  for  the  Holy  Spirit 
upon  the  elements,  "that  He  may  make  the  bread  the  Body 
of  Christ,  and  the  wine  the  Blood  of  Christ";  the  prayer  for 
the  common  peace  of  the  Church,  for  kings,  soldiers,  sick, 
afflicted,  etc.;  the  commemoration  of  those  who  have  fallen 
asleep  before  us,  Patriarchs,  Prophets,  Apostles,  Martyrs, 
etc.;  the  Lord's  Prayer;  the  Invitation,  "O  taste  and  see," 
etc.    And  finally  he  adds  this  practical  direction: 

"Approaching  therefore,  come  not  with  thy  wrists  extended 
or  thy  fingers  open;  but  make  thy  left  hand  as  if  a  throne 
for  thy  right,  which  is  on  the  eve  of  receiving  the  King.  And 
having  hallowed  thy  palm,  receive  the  Body  of  Christ,  say- 
ing after  it,  Amen.  Then  after  thou  hast  with  carefulness 
hallowed  thine  eyes  by  the  touch  of  the  holy  Body,  partake 
thereof,  giving  heed  lest  thou  lose  any  of  it;  for  what  thou 
losest  is  a  loss  to  thee  as  it  were  from  one  of  thine  own  mem- 
bers. For  tell  me,  if  any  one  gave  thee  gold  dust,  wouldest 
thou  not  with  all  precaution  keep  it  fast?  How  much  more 
cautiously  then  wilt  thou  observe  that  not  a  crumb  falls  from 
thee,  of  what  is  more  precious  than  gold  and  precious 
stones? 

"Then  after  having  partaken  of  the  Body  of  Christ, 
approach  also  to  the  Cup  of  His  Blood;  not  stretching  forth 


1  i  Cor.  xvi,  20;    I  Peter  v,  14. 


THE  PARENT  LITURGIES  61 


thy  hands,  but  bending,  and  saying  in  the  way  of  worship 
and  reverence,  Amen,  be  thou  hallowed  by  partaking  also 
of  the  Blood  of  Christ.  .  .  .  Sever  not  yourselves  from  the 
Communion;  deprive  not  yourselves,  by  the  pollution  of 
sins,  of  these  Holy  and  Spiritual  Mysteries. "  1 

(2)  The  Prayer  Book  of  Sarapion,  a  Bishop  in  the 
Nile  Delta,  is  "the  first  collection  to  which  the  name  of 
Service-book  can  properly  be  given."  It  was  discovered  in 
the  Monastery  of  Mount  Athos,  and  was  first  published  in 
1899.  It  contains  only  the  portions  of  the  service  said  by  a 
Bishop  at  ordination,  in  the  Holy  Communion,  and  other  ser- 
vices, but  nothing  so  complete  is  met  with  again  until  the 
seventh  century.  No  information  is  given  about  what  is 
said  by  the  assistant  clergy  or  the  congregation.2 

(3)  The  third  chief  source  of  the  original  form  of  the 
Apostolic  Liturgy  is  the  book  called  The  Apostolic  Con- 
stitutions, which  is  generally  admitted  to  be  not  later  than 
the  fourth  century.  The  book  is  "a  description  by  some 
private  author  of  the  rites  used  in  the  Church  of  his  day;  a 
service  book  incorporated  in  a  treatise."  3  The  early  charac- 
ter of  many  of  the  documents  contained  in  the  book  is 
evident  from  the  fact  that  "they  describe  the  Church  of 
primitive  times  in  its  antagonism  with  heathen  life,  and  in 
its  over-depressed  and,  humanly  speaking,  mean  condition, 
when  as  yet  'not  many  wise  men  after  the  flesh,  not  many 
mighty,  not  many  noble,  were  called/ "  4 

1  Lectures  of  S.  Cyril,  translated  by  R.  W.  Church,  Oxford,  1838,  pp. 
*73>  sq. 

2  This  is  one  of  many  recent  discoveries  made  in  the  last  years  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  and  described  by  Bishop  Maclean  in  Recent  Dis- 
coveries etc.,  S.  P.  C.  K.,  1904.    See  also  P.  and  F.  New  History,  etc.,  p.  5. 

8  Dr.  Frere,  Principles  of  Religious  Ceremonial,  and  P.  and  F.  New  His. 
etc.  p.  4. 

4  Die.  of  Doctr.  and  His.  Theology,  ed.  by  J.  H.  Blunt,  p.  149.  See  also 
Canon  Warren,  Lit.  Ante-Nicene  Church,  p.  255. 


62    PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

The  books  of  this  collection  treat  of  many  subjects,  moral 
and  religious  duties,  clerical  functions,  consecration  of  Bish- 
ops, clerical  marriage,  fasts  and  festivals,  Holy  Baptism,  the 
Holy  Eucharist,  the  Lord's  Day,  etc.  The  eighth  and  last 
book,  among  other  things  such  as  the  election  and  ordina- 
tion of  Bishops,  contains  a  liturgy  which  is  commonly  called 
the  Clementine  as  attributed  to  Clement,  one  of  the  earliest 
Bishops  of  Rome,  and  supposed  to  be  the  companion  of  S. 
Paul  mentioned  by  him  in  Phil,  iv,  3.  Of  this  document 
Palmer  says,  "The  liturgy  which  bears  the  name  of  Clement, 
Bishop  of  Rome,  is  certainly  a  monument  of  venerable 
antiquity.  I  cannot  think,  however,  that  it  is  an  accurate 
transcript  of  the  liturgy  of  any  Church.  In  the  first  place 
there  is  no  evidence  that  it  was  used  anywhere.  Secondly, 
although  from  its  title  we  should  say  that  it  was  the  liturgy 
of  the  Roman  Church,  it  is  nevertheless  totally  unlike  the 
primitive  liturgy  of  that  Church,  while  it  agrees  in  substance 
and  order  with  the  liturgies  of  the  East.  ...  In  its  order, 
its  substance,  and  many  of  its  expressions,  the  Liturgy  of 
Clement  is  identical  with  that  of  S.  James."  1 

(4)  The  fourth  chief  source  of  our  knowledge  of  the 
original  Liturgy  of  S.  James  is  found  in  The  Homilies  or 
Sermons  of  S.  Chrysostom  while  he  was  still  a  priest  of 
the  Church  of  Antioch  (386-397).  As  his  description  cor- 
responds generally  to  that  given  by  Cyril  in  his  Lectures,  it 
will  not  be  necessary  to  reproduce  it  here.  The  service 
in  Antioch  in  the  latter  part  of'  the  fourth  century  was 
evidently  the  same  in  substance  as  that  in  Jerusalem 
in  347.2 

The  following  portion  of  the  Anaphora  of  the  Liturgy  of 

1  Orig.  Lit.,  I,  pp.  37,  38. 

8  Duchesne  says,  p.  56,  "Bingham  was  the  first  to  form  the  project  of 
collecting  and  putting  into  order  these  scattered  data."  Antiq.  XIII,  chap.  vi. 


THE  PARENT  LITURGIES  63 


S.  James,  as  revised  by  S.  Chrysostom,  which,  as  already 
stated,  is  "the  normal  liturgy  of  the  Eastern  Church"  today, 
is  of  much  interest  as  showing  the  close  correspondence  with 
the  English,  but  more  especially  with  the  Scottish  and 
American  forms. 

The  Priest  taking  the  Air  1  from  the  Holy  Gifts ,  lays  it  on 
one  side,  saying, 

The  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  love  of  God 
the  Father,  and  the  fellowship  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  be  with 
you  all. 

Choir.    And  with  thy  spirit. 

Priest.    Lift  we  up  our  hearts. 

Choir.    We  lift  them  up  unto  the  Lord. 

Priest.    Let  us  give  thanks  unto  the  Lord. 

Choir.  It  is  meet  and  right  to  worship  the  Father,  the 
Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  consubstantial  and  undivided 
Trinity. 

Priest.  It  is  meet  and  right  to  hymn  Thee,  to  bless  Thee, 
to  praise  Thee,  to  give  thanks  to  Thee,  to  worship  Thee,  in 
every  part  of  Thy  dominion.  For  Thou  art  God,  ineffable, 
inconceivable,  invisible,  incomprehensible,  the  same  from 
everlasting  to  everlasting;  Thou  and  Thine  Only-Begotten 
Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost.  For  Thou  broughtest  us  forth 
to  being  from  nothing,  and  when  we  had  fallen  didst  raise 
us  up  again,  and  gavest  not  over  till  Thou  hadst  done  every 
thing  that  Thou  mightest  bring  us  to  heaven,  and  bestow 
on  us  Thy  kingdom  to  come.  For  all  these  things  we  give 
thanks  to  Thee,  and  to  Thine  Only-Begotten  Son,  and  Thy 
Holy  Ghost,  for  Thy  benefits  which  we  know,  and  which  we 
know  not,  manifest  and  concealed,  which  Thou  hast  be- 
stowed upon  us.  We  give  Thee  thanks  also  for  this  ministry 
which  Thou  hast  vouchsafed  to  receive  at  our  hands:  al- 
though there  stand  by  Thee  thousands  of  Archangels,  and 
ten  thousands  of  Angels,  the  Cherubim,  and  the  Seraphim 
that  have  six  wings,  and  are  full  of  eyes,  and  soar  aloft  on 


1  The  "air"  is  the  name  in  the  Eastern  Church  for  the  veil  for  covering 
the  sacred  vessels. 


64    PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


their  wings,  singing,  vociferating,  shouting,  and  saying  the 
triumphal  hymn: 

Choir.  Holy,  Holy,  Holy,  Lord  of  Sabaoth;  heaven  and 
earth  are  full  of  Thy  glory.  Hosanna  in  the  highest:  blessed 
is  He  that  cometh  in  the  Name  of  the  Lord:  Hosanna  in 
the  highest. 

Then  the  Deacon,  taking  the  asterisk  from  the  holy  disk,1  signs 
it  with  the  sign  of  the  cross,  and  having  saluted  it,  replaces  it. 

Priest.  We  also  with  these  blessed  powers,  Lord  and 
Lover  of  men,  cry  and  say,  Holy  art  Thou  and  All-Holy, 
Thou  and  Thy  Only-Begotten  Son,  and  Thine  Holy  Ghost. 
Holy  art  Thou  and  All-Holy,  and  great  is  the  majesty  of 
Thy  glory: 

Who  didst  so  love  Thy  world  as  to  give  Thine  Only-Be- 
gotten Son,  that  whoso  believeth  in  Him  might  not  perish, 
but  might  have  everlasting  life:  Who  having  come,  and  hav- 
ing fulfilled  for  us  all  the  dispensation,  in  the  night  wherein 
He  was  betrayed,  or  rather  surrendered  Himself  for  the  life 
of  the  world,  took  bread  in  His  holy  and  pure  and  spotless 
hands,  and  gave  thanks,  and  blessed,  and  hallowed,  and 
brake,  and  gave  to  His  holy  Disciples  and  Apostles,  saying, 
{aloud,)  Take,  eat:  this  is  My  Body  which  is  broken  for  you 
for  the  remission  of  sins. 

Choir.  Amen. 

Priest,  {in  a  low  voice,)  Likewise  after  supper  He  took  the 
cup,  saying,  {aloud,)  Drink  ye  all  of  this:  This  is  My  Blood 
of  the  New  Testament,  which  is  shed  for  you  and  for  many 
for  the  remission  of  sins. 

Choir.  Amen. 

Priest,  {in  a  low  voice,)  We  therefore  remembering  this 
salutary  precept,  and  all  that  happened  on  our  behalf,  the 
Cross,  the  Tomb,  the  Resurrection  on  the  third  day,  the 
Ascension  into  heaven,  the  Session  on  the  right  hand, 
the  second  and  glorious  Coming  again,  {aloud,)  in  behalf  of 
all,  and  for  all,  we  offer  Thee  Thine  own  of  Thine  own. 


1  The  "asterisk,"  or  star,  is  a  device  formed  of  two  crossed  arches  of 
metal,  intended  to  support  the  "air"  or  veil,  when  it  is  placed  over  the 
paten,  or  "disk." 


THE  PARENT  LITURGIES  65 


Choir.  Thee  we  hymn,  Thee  we  praise:  to  Thee  we  give 
thanks,  Lord,  and  pray  to  Thee,  our  God. 

Priesty  {in  a  low  voice,)  Moreover  we  offer  unto  Thee  this 
reasonable  and  unbloody  sacrifice:  and  beseech  Thee  and 
pray  and  supplicate;  send  down  Thy  Holy  Ghost  upon  us 
and  upon  these  proposed  gifts. 

\Here  follow  brief  prayers  by  the  Deacon  and  Priest 
kneeling.^ 

The  Priest  standeth  up,  and  thrice  maketh  the  sign  of  the 
Cross  on  the  Holy  Gifts,  saying, 

And  make  this  bread  the  precious  Body  of  Thy  Christ. 

Deacon.    Amen.    Sir,  bless  the  holy  cup. 

Priest.  And  that  which  is  in  this  cup,  the  precious  Blood 
of  Thy  Christ. 

Deacon.  Amen.  And  pointing  with  his  orarion  1  to  both 
the  Holy  Things,  Sir,  bless. 

Priest.    Changing  them  by  Thy  Holy  Ghost. 
Deacon.    Amen,  Amen,  Amen. 

Then  the  Deacon  bows  his  head  to  the  Priest,  and  saith, 
Holy  Sir,  remember  me  a  sinner. 

Then  he  stands  in  his  former  place,  and  taking  the  fany2 
fans  the  oblation  as  before. 

Priest.  So  that  they  may  be  to  those  that  participate,  for 
purification  of  soul,  forgiveness  of  sins,  communion  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  fulfilment  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  boldness 
towards  Thee,  and  not  to  judgment  or  to  condemnation.3 

The  following  beautiful  prayer  for  the  departed  is  taken 
from  the  same  liturgy: 

And  remember  them  who  with  purity  of  heart,  and  sanctity 
of  soul  and  body,  have  departed  from  this  world,  and  have 
come  to  Thee,  O  God.  Them  who  from  the  first  Adam, 
the  first  made  of  our  creation,  in  all  generations  have  pleased 
Thee,  and  confessed  Thee,  and  have  hoped  for  and  expected 

1  The  "  orarion  "  is  a  stole. 

8  The  "fan,"  now  "  generally  made  of  silver  and  in  the  shape  of  the  heads 
and  wings  of  cherubim"  (Neale,  Prim.  Lit,  p.  xxix,  note),  was  originally 
intended  to  prevent  flies  from  settling  on  the  elements. 

3  Neale,  Primitive  Liturgies,  pp.  112-115. 


66   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


the  manifestation  of  Thine  Only-Begotten  Son,  and  have 
desired  to  see  His  great  and  glorious  day.  Them  who  in 
the  spiritual  bosom  of  Baptism,  have  put  Thee  on  splendidly, 
and  have  believed  in  Thy  Name.  Give  them  rest  in  Thy 
celestial  habitations,  in  the  Paradise  of  delights,  in  the 
tabernacles  of  light,  in  quiet  dwelling-places.  Enter  not 
into  judgment  with  them,  O  Lord,  for  in  Thy  sight  shall  no 
man  living  be  justified;  for  there  is  only  One  who  hath  ap- 
peared upon  earth,  pure  and  without  blemish.1 

Dr.  Neale  gives  many  other  examples  of  prayers  for  the 
faithful  departed  as  found  in  the  primitive  liturgies,  and 
makes  this  observation  upon  them:  "The  more  they  are 
examined,  the  more  clearly  two  points  will  appear,  (i)  That 
prayers  for  the  dead,  and  more  especially  the  oblation  of  the 
blessed  Eucharist  for  them,  have  been  from  the  beginning 
the  practice  of  the  Universal  Church.  (2)  And  this  without 
any  idea  of  a  purgatory  of  pain,  or  of  any  state  from  which  the 
departed  soul  has  to  be  delivered  as  from  one  of  misery."  2 

The  Syrian,  or  S.  James  family  of  liturgies  has  probably 
more  than  fifty  branches,  throughout  the  East  from  Pales- 
tine to  Russia.  The  Alexandrian  or  S.  Mark  family  has 
about  twenty  branches  tracing  their  source  to  Egypt.  The 
Persian  has  five,  one  of  these  being  that  used  from  time  im- 
memorial by  the  Christians  of  S.  Thomas,  as  they  call  them- 
selves, of  Malabar.  The  Petrine  family  has  only  one  liturgy, 
the  Roman.  That  of  S.  John,  or  Ephesus,  has  two  chief 
branches,  the  Gallican  and  the  so-called  Mozarabic,  though 
it  is  claimed  by  some  modern  liturgists  that  these  derived 
their  oriental  character,  not  directly  from  Ephesus,  but 
from  Milan  where  the  Liturgy  of  S.  Ambrose  had  certain 
Roman  features  mingled  with  its  distinctly  oriental  original. 


1  Neale,  Primitive  Liturgies,  p.  253. 

2  Ibid.  p.  248.   See  also  Mason,  77?,?  State  of  the  Faithful  Departed,  p.  110. 


THE  PARENT  LITURGIES  67 


Akin  also  to  that  of  Milan  was  the  Use  of  Aquileia  in  the 
civil  province  of  Triest,  and  known  as  the  Patriarchine.1 

The  general  order  of  the  great  parent  liturgies,  as  given 
by  Dr.  Neale,  is  substantially  as  follows:  Every  liturgy 
contains  two  parts,  the  Pro-Anaphora,  or  preparation, 
and  the  Anaphora,  or  celebration  proper.  The  Pro- 
Anaphora  begins  with  a  prefatory  prayer,  a  hymn,  or  anti- 
phon,  or  introit  (literally,  "he  enters"),  accompanying  the 
solemn  bringing  in  of  the  Gospels  from  the  sacristy  or 
prothesis.  This  is  called  "the  Little  Entrance,"  and  is  fol- 
lowed by  the  Trisagion,  or  Ter-Sanctus  ("Thrice  Holy"),  the 
Lections  (Epistle  and  Gospel  for  the  day,  and  in  some  rites 
a  selection  from  the  Old  Testament,  called  the  Prophecy), 
and  prayers  after  the  Gospel,  when  those  not  yet  admitted 
to  the  Holy  Communion  are  required  to  leave.  This  portion 
of  the  Pro-Anaphora  was  called  the  Missa  Catechumenorum, 
or  Mass  of  the  Catechumens.  The  second  part  of  the  Pro- 
Anaphora  consisted  of  prayers  accompanying  the  solemn 
bringing  in  of  the  elements  of  Bread  and  Wine.  This  is  called 
"the  Great  Entrance,"  and  is  followed  by  the  Offertory, 
the  Kiss  of  Peace  (Pax),  and  the  Creed. 

The  Anaphora  (literally,  the  Oblation,  or  Offering)  be- 
gins with  the  Sursum  Corda  ("Lift  up  your  hearts"),  the 
Proper  Preface  (if  there  be  one),  and  the  Triumphal  Hymn 
("Therefore  with  angels  and  archangels,"  etc.),  Benedictus 
qui  venit  ("Blessed  is  He"),  the  Consecration,  the  great  In- 
tercession for  the  living  and  the  departed,  the  Prayer  of 
Intense  Adoration,  the  Confession  or  Prayer  of  Humble 
Access,  the  Communion,  Thanksgiving,  and  Dismissal.2 

A  comparative  table  is  given  below  showing  the  com- 
ponent parts  of  the  four  parent  liturgies  which  represent  the 


1  For  a  further  consideration  of  this  see  chap,  vii,  pp.  77,  78. 
8  Prim.  Lit.,  pp.  xv-xviii,  and  48,  113,  131,  163. 


68    PRIMTIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


S3  'a 

%  a 


1.  A  P  J> 

3  3  £  +3 

<n  2  .22 
£  ft 

H  „w 

0)  — '  -  g 


a  a 


u5 


i  T3  a   _  C  O  S  Ph 


O  Ph 


ft  2 


XJ3^C3oSPwg 

a  «  §  -9  a^-s 

5  O  t/)  ,     n  CTl 


fa; 

'S>  a 


_\  HOP 


w 


o  j> 
O    w  c« 


Ji  ..2S 


a  **-" 1 
o  M 
'■3  w 


g    4>    4>    «    K  OJ 

■£  £  5  o  5 


P.!  *  a 


3 


in  V  b 

lid0* s*3 

3 


H      pS  O  Ph 


II 

O  JS 


CI    CO  >0        00  0> 


4)  o  .22  2  ,2 

2  a  a  «  u 

oo  H 


13  g 
ft  « 
o  P, 


M. 


Ph  O 


WO 


g  d  M 


H  -2 


2  -3 

T3  H 


fe   •  Sf  >,.H 
g.S  g.SJ 


UPm 


co  H  Ph  f 
oo  a  "i 


*S     -3  3  o  ">  £  S3 

ip  si  ij§ 

VO   O    M    M         io  *0  OO 


>>  4> 

S  ft 


to  «>>o  NOO 


13  >,;—2  . 

^'a      i  a 
•s    a  -a-s 
a  a£w 


3  "g-g 

fin 


O   O  SI?  3  « 

•J  OO 


'as 

j  13 


§  I 

gu  | 

Ph  CO 


3  >.  g 


3 

On)  .  ** 

>>  OO  >,  tn 

ft  «^ 


o  a 


O  M 

■"OS 


9 

•2  ^  3 
o  h 


12 


CO 


to  \o  oo 


THE  PARENT  LITURGIES 


69 


worship  of  the  Christian  Church  in  the  days  of  persecution, 
that  is,  before  the  year  313.  These  same  general  features 
are  found  also  in  all  other  liturgies,  national  or  local,  heretical 
or  orthodox,  which  are  derived  from  these  originals.  The 
essential  oneness  of  all,  in  spite  of  the  utmost  difference  in 
language,  and  wording,  and  order,  and  detail,  must  force 
on  any  unprejudiced  student  the  conclusion  that  all  have 
had  one  common  origin.  This  is  the  more  remarkable 
because  of  the  vast  distance  of  national  or  racial  Churches 
one  from  another  (as  Abyssinia,  Ethiopia,  Malabar,  the 
British  Isles),  the  difficulties  of  ancient  travel,  together  with 
the  recognized  authority  of  each  Bishop  to  modify  or  adapt 
the  worship  to  the  requirements  of  his  own  diocese.  It  follows 
that  there  is  only  one  place  and  one  time  where  and  when 
such  an  original  could  have  been  framed,  namely,  Jerusalem, 
and  the  years  immediately  following  the  Ascension,  while 
the  Apostles  were  still  gathered  together  in  that  city.  It 
has  been  said  with  much  reason,  "Probably  before  the 
Apostles  separated  for  their  several  spheres  of  missionary 
work,  they  met  and  agreed,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  upon  the  essentials  of  Eucharistic  worship."  These 
would  form  the  foundation  and  framework  which  Bishops, 
and  doctors,  and  missionaries  of  the  Church,  having  special 
gifts  for  the  work,  would  build  upon  and  enrich  with  treas- 
ures of  devout  thought  and  supplication.  On  no  other  theory 
can  we  explain  the  remarkable  unity  in  essentials,  together 
with  endless  variety  of  detail,  in  all  extant  liturgies. 


CHAPTER  VII 


The  British  and  Irish  Liturgies 

"  When  one  wishes  to  explain  a  science  little  known,  the  simplest  method  is 
to  give  an  account  of  its  history.  In  this  way  the  knowledge  insinuates 
itself  into  the  mind  of  the  reader,  just  as  it  was  formed  in  that  of  sue 
cessive  generations;  people  follow,  so  to  speak,  the  science  step  by  step; 
and  with  this  knowledge  they  proceed,  from  its  simplest  elements  to  its  most 
complex  theories"  —  Paul  de  Remusat,  Sur  une  Revolution  dans  la 
Chimie,  185$. 

WE  are  now  in  a  position  to  trace  the  sources  from 
which  the  liturgy  of  the  British  and  English  Churches 
was  derived.  But  before  approaching  this  question  it  is 
necessary  to  understand  something  of  the  history  of  the 
early  Church  in  the  British  Isles.  At  what  date  Christianity 
found  its  first  footing  in  Britain  it  is  impossible  to  say.  The 
claim  that  S.  Paul  preached  in  Britain  after  his  promised 
visit  to  Spain  1  rests  on  no  certain  authority.  In  his  day, 
and  for  350  years  afterwards,  the  island,  as  far  north  as  the 
Clyde,  was  a  province  of  the  Roman  Empire  (from  54  B.C. 
to  a.d.  418).  The  northern  portion  and  Ireland  were,  to 
their  own  loss,  never  conquered  by  Roman  arms.  South- 
ern Britain  was  ruled  by  Roman  officials  and  subjected  to 
Roman  laws,  just  as  India  is  ruled  today  by  the  British,  and 
the  Philippine  Islands  by  the  United  States.  About  the 
year  120  Ptolemy,  the  astronomer  and  geographer,  enumer- 
ates fifty-six  British  cities  with  Latin  names,  and  there  is 
every  evidence  from  the  ruins  of  theatres,  villas,  baths, 
coins,  vases,  etc.,  that  these  cities  once  contained  a  flourish- 
ing population. 

1  Rom.  xv,  24,  28. 


BRITISH  AND  IRISH  LITURGIES 


The  first  converts  would  therefore  most  naturally  be 
among  these  Latin-speaking  colonists,  soldiers  of  the  Roman 
army,  officials  of  the  government,  merchants,  and  such 
natives  as  were  brought  into  immediate  contact  with  them. 
One  fact  is  clear,  whatever  the  source  of  the  founding  of  the 
Church  in  Britain,  before  the  withdrawal  of  the  Roman 
armies  and  governors  in  a.d.  418  the  Church  was  fully  or- 
ganized. Its  many  dioceses,  each  under  its  own  Bishop,  were 
united  into  three  provinces.  Each  province  had  its  Arch- 
bishop. The  Bishop  of  London  was  the  Archbishop  of  the 
southern  province;  the  Bishop  of  York  of  the  northern;  and 
the  Bishop  of  Caer-Leon  on  Usk  of  the  Welsh  or  western 
province. 

In  the  persecution  by  the  Emperor  Diocletian,  a.d.  303, 
the  British  Church  had  many  martyrs,  such  as  Alban, 
Julius,  and  Aaron.  Three  Bishops  of  the  Church  attended 
the  Council  of  Aries  in  France,  A.D.  314,  and  at  the  great 
General  Council  of  Nice,  a.d.  325,  two  priests  were  present 
representing  the  British  Bishops. 

Another  fact  is  of  importance  here,  one  which  has  its 
analogy  and  counterpart  in  India  under  British  rule,  and  in 
the  Philippines  under  that  of  Americans.  The  historian  Bede, 
in  the  eighth  century,  tells  us  that  Latin  had  become  "a  com- 
mon language  for  the  Angles,  Britons,  Picts,  and  Irish." 1 

"In  quite  early  days,"  writes  Canon  Warren,  "Latin 
and  not  any  form  of  Gaelic,  may  have  been,  if  not  the 
vernacular  language,  at  least  a  language  understood  by  all 
the  members  of  the  Christian  Church  in  Britain.  Tacitus 
informs  us  that  the  Roman  language  was  adopted  by  the 
leading  inhabitants  of  Britain  under  the  'policy'  of  Agricola. 
Most  of  the  writings  of  the  British,  Scottish,  and  Irish 
authors  of  the  first  six  centuries,  all  the  extant  Psalters  and 

1  His.  EccUs.  I,  i. 


72    PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


Books  of  the  Gospels,  and  the  few  liturgical  fragments  which 
have  been  preserved,  are  written  in  the  Latin  language  by- 
scribes  who  not  only  understood  what  they  wrote,  but  were 
so  far  masters  of  the  language  in  which  they  were  writing 
as  to  have  compiled  a  special  British  and  Irish  version 
of  the  old  Latin  text  of  the  Bible  for  use  in  their  own 
Church.  The  ecclesiastical  use  of  the  ancient  Celtic  tongue, 
if  this  theory  is  correct,  commenced  when  the  Church 
began  to  include  among  its  members  and  to  receive  into 
its  priesthood  persons  who  were  ignorant  of  Latin;  but 
even  then  it  was  confined  to  the  rubrics,  and  to  sermons 
and  addresses."  1 

Though  the  introduction  of  the  Latin  language  was  doubt- 
less justifiable  in  the  early  days  of  the  Church  in  England, 
its  continuance  by  the  stupid  conservatism  and  unscriptural 
policy  of  the  later  Papacy  when  the  language  of  the  people 
became  fixed,  was  worse  than  a  blunder.  To  this  day  Rome 
by  canon  forbids  the  translation  of  the  liturgy  into  the 
vernacular  of  every  country  where  it  has  sway,  though  the 
very  Latin  service  which  it  insists  on  as  sacrosanct  is  itself 
a  translation  from  the  Greek,  when  Latin  had  become  the 
language  of  the  people.2   Yet  as  late  as  a.d.  121 5  a  canon 

1  Lit.  and  Rit.  etc.,  pp.  156,  157.  The  sources  of  information  in  regard 
to  the  ancient  British  Liturgy  and  Ritual  are  (1)  Scattered  notices  in  the 
works  of  contemporary  Irish  and  British  writers  of  the  5th,  6th,  and  7th 
centuries.  (2)  Scattered  notices  in  Celtic  manuscripts  such  as  the  Cata- 
logue of  the  Saints  of  Ireland,  Leabhar  Breac,  etc.  (3)  Fragments  of  the 
ancient  Liturgy  in  the  following  Irish  Missals ;  the  Stowe  (ninth  century), 
Drummond  (eleventh  century),  and  Corpus  (twelfth  century):  in  the  Books 
of  Mulling,  and  Dimma  (seventh  century),  Deer,  and  Armagh  (ninth  cen- 
tury), etc.  (4)  Illuminations  in  Celtic  manuscripts.  (5)  Architectural 
remains  of  churches,  inscriptions,  sculptured  crosses,  book-covers,  pastoral 
staves,  bells,  chalices,  etc.    See  Lit.  and  Ritual,  etc.,  pp.  viii  and  ix. 

*  See  Littledale,  Reasons  against  Joining  the  Church  of  Rome,  pp.  87-89. 


BRITISH  AND  IRISH  LITURGIES  73 


of  the  Lateran  Council  under  Pope  Innocent  enforced  "the 
celebration  of  Divine  Service  according  to  the  diversity  of 
ceremonies  and  languages."  1 

But  side  by  side  with  this  partially  Roman  and  bilingual 
character  of  the  ancient  British  Church,  we  find  her  making 
the  most  thorough-going  assertion  of  her  "independence  of 
the  Roman  Church,  in  her  origin,  mission,  and  jurisdiction."  2 
It  is  true  that  Bede,  the  historian  of  the  English  Church  in 
the  eighth  century,  attributes  the  conversion  of  England  to 
the  agency  of  the  Roman  Bishop,  Eleutherus  (a.d.  171-190), 
in  the  time  of  the  British  prince  Lucius.3  "This  story," 
Canon  Warren  says,  "is  now  known  to  have  originated  in 
Rome  in  the  fifth  or  sixth  century,  300  years  or  more  after 
the  date  assigned  to  that  event.  In  the  eighth  century  Bede 
introduced  it  into  England,  where  by  the  ninth  century  it 

1  Luckock,  Studies  in  the  Prayer  Book,  p.  30.  It  is  noteworthy,  more- 
over, that  more  than  five  hundred  years  before  England  regained  the 
use  of  the  vulgar  tongue,  the  Bohemians  in  977  wrested  from  the 
court  of  Rome  the  use  of  the  vernacular  in  their  Liturgy,  and  they 
still  retain  the  Slavonic  tongue  in  spite  of  various  efforts  on  the  part 
of  Rome  to  take  it  away.  The  Liturgy  of  the  old  kingdom  of  Georgia 
is  in  Georgian;  that  of  Rumania  in  Rumanian  (that  is,  Roman,  akin  to 
Italian);  that  of  Russia  in  Slavonic,  which  owes  its  translation  to  S.  Cyril, 
a  native  of  Thessalonica,  who  was  a  missionary  to  the  Bulgarians  in  the 
ninth  century.  "He  adopted  Greek  characters  so  far  as  they  went;  but 
its  twenty-two  literal  forms  went  but  a  little  way  in  supplying  the  forty-three 
which  he  found  to  be  necessary  for  a  language  of  inexhaustible  richness  and 
beauty,  .  .  .  the  rival  of  Greek  in  flexibility,  its  superior  in  copious- 
ness." .  .  .  Slavonic  is  still  used  in  Russia,  but  "children  are  taught 
both  languages  (Russ  and  Slavonic),  which  form  the  commencement  of 
their  education."  The  Greek  Liturgy  is  still  allowed  in  Sicily,  Calabria, 
and  Apulia.  (See  Neale,  Essays  on  Liturgiology,  pp.  200,  206,  212;  also 
Duchesne,  Christian  Worship,  p.  72,  note). 

*  Warren,  Lit.  and  Rit.,  p.  29. 

3  His.  Ecc.  i,  4. 


74   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


had  grown  into  the  conversion  of  the  whole  of  Britain,  while 
the  full-fledged  fiction,  connecting  it  specially  with  Wales 
and  Glastonbury,  and  entering  into  further  details,  grew  up 
between  the  ninth  and  twelfth  centuries. "  1 

It  is  to  be  remembered,  moreover,  that  during  the  first 
three  centuries,  while  the  Empire  was  still  powerful  and  still 
pagan,  the  Church  in  the  city  of  Rome  was  only  a  struggling 
and  persecuted  body  whose  membership  was  chiefly  among 
a  Greek-speaking  population,  and  with  its  liturgy  in  the 
Greek  language,  which  was  also  the  language  of  commerce. 
No  such  claims  of  universal  supremacy,  as  were  afterwards 
made  by  the  Roman  Bishops,  were  at  this  time  thought  of. 
It  is  moreover  a  significant  fact  that  in  the  year  596,  when 
Gregory  sent  Augustine  and  his  missionary  priests  to  con- 
vert the  heathen  Angles  and  Saxons  in  Britain,  he  seems 
strangely  ignorant  of  the  existence  of  any  Church  planted 
there  by  Roman  influence,  or  owing  allegiance  to  the  Roman 
see,  which  it  would  have  done  if  Rome  had  been  its  founder. 
In  fact,  we  know  that  when  Augustine  endeavored  to  exer- 
cise authority  over  the  British  Bishops,  with  one  consent 
they  refused  to  recognize  such  a  claim  as  a  thing  before  un- 
heard of.  "We  will  have  none  of  these  things  which  you 
require,"  they  said  at  the  conference  in  602,  "nor  will  we  have 
you  as  our  Archbishop."  2 

And  this  independent  character  of  the  British  Church 
continued  long  after  the  days  of  Augustine,  even  down  to 
the  end  of  the  eighth  century.  As  early  as  432,  that  is,  164 
years  before  Gregory  sent  Augustine  to  the  Anglo-Saxons, 
the  work  of  christianizing  the  Irish,  or  as  they  were  then 
called,  the  Scots,  was  begun  by  a  British  Christian,  edu- 

1  Lit.  and  Rit.,  p.  30,  and  compare  Haddan  and  Stubbs,  Councils  and 
Ecc.  Doc,  i,  pp.  25,  26. 
a  Bede,  His.  Ecc.  ii,  2. 


BRITISH  AND  IRISH  LITURGIES 


cated  and  ordained  in  France,  Patrick,  or  Succat,  as  his 
British  name  was  called.1 

Columba,  a  member  of  this  Irish,  or  as  it  was  then  called, 
Scottish,  Church  of  S.  Patrick,  became  in  563  the  Apostle 
of  the  heathen  Picts  of  Albania  (not  called  Scotland  till  the 
tenth  century),  where  he  christianized  the  whole  of  the 
North  and  North- West,  and  the  adjacent  islands.  S.  Co- 
lumba's  successors  at  Iona  converted  in  a  similar  way  the 
whole  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  population  north  of  the  Humber, 
some  of  them  carrying  their  labors  as  far  south  as  Suffolk 
and  Cornwall.  "  Irish  missionary  zeal  sought  a  vent  even 
beyond  the  confines  of  Britain.  Early  in  the  sixth  century 
(a.d.  511)  the  Irish  S.  Fridolin  appeared  at  Poitiers,  Stras- 
bourg, and  Seckingen  near  Basle,  as  the  pioneer  of  future 
missionary  hosts.  Late  in  the  sixth  and  early  in  the  seventh 
centuries  S.  Columbanus  and  S.  Gall,  with  their  companions, 
traversed  Gaul,  Italy,  and  Switzerland,  founding  their  chief 
monasteries  at  Luxeuil,  Bobbio,  and  S.  Gall.  .  .  .  Less 

1  "He  was  thus  double-named,  like  the  Apostle  Paul,  who  bore  a  Roman 
as  well  as  a  Jewish  name  from  his  youth  up."  (Prof.  Bury,  Life  of  S.  Patrick, 
p.  23.)  In  this  scholarly  volume  by  the  Regius  Professor  of  Modern  His- 
tory in  the  University  of  Cambridge  (England),  the  author  makes  a  strong 
argument  against  the  common  view  that  Patrick's  birthplace  (Bannaventa, 
as  given  in  his  autobiography,  or  "Confession")  is  identical  with  Dum- 
barton on  the  Clyde.  His  grandfather,  Potitus,  was  a  priest  of  the  British 
Church,  and  his  father,  Calpurnius,  was  a  deacon,  and  also  a  decurion,  or 
member  of  the  municipal  council  of  a  Roman  town.  "We  have  no  evi- 
dence," writes  Prof.  Bury,  "that  there  were  Roman  towns  with  municipal 
constitutions  in  Strathclyde.  .  .  .  The  Rock  of  Clyde,  at  the  extreme  end 
of  the  Northern  Wall,  is  the  last  place  we  should  expect  to  find  the  uillula 
(farmhouse)  of  a  Roman  decurion;  and  the  opinion  that  the  home  of  Cal- 
purnius was  in  that  remote  spot  cannot  be  accepted  without  better  evidence 
than  an  anonymous  statement  which  we  cannot  trace  to  any  trustworthy 
source"  {Ibid,  pp.,  323,  324).  He  is  inclined  to  look  for  the  birthplace 
"in  the  regions  of  the  lower  Severn"  {Ibid.,  p.  17). 


76   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


known  Irish  missions  also  carried  Christianity  to  the  Faroe 
Isles  c.  a.d.  725,  and  to  Iceland  a.d.  795.  ...  All  the  great 
leaders  in  this  Celtic  wave  of  missionary  enterprise  were  of 
Irish  origin."  1 

These  facts  are  very  important  as  bearing  directly  on  the 
original  source  of  the  Liturgy  of  the  British  and  English 
Churches.  They  show  us  "a  vast  Celtic  communion  existing 
in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  sending  its  missions  among 
the  Teutonic  tribes  on  the  Continent,  and  to  distant  islands 
like  Iceland;  Catholic  in  doctrine  and  practice,  and  yet  with 
its  claims  to  Catholicity  ignored  or  impugned  by  the  Church 
of  Rome;  with  a  long  roll  of  saints,  every  name  of  note  on 
which  is  either  that  of  one  like  S.  Columbanus  taking  a  line 
wholly  independent  of  Rome,  or,  like  Bishop  Colman  at  the 
Synod  of  Whitby  [664],  directly  in  collision  with  her;  having 
its  own  liturgy,  its  own  translation  of  the  Bible,  its  own 
mode  of  chanting,  its  own  monastic  rule,  its  own  cycle  for 
the  calculation  of  Easter;  and  presenting  both  internal  and 
external  evidence  of  a  complete  autonomy."  2 

It  has  been  already  pointed  out  that  during  the  first  two 
centuries  the  Church  in  the  city  of  Rome  was  a  mere  strug- 
gling and  persecuted  body,  chiefly  composed  of  Greek- 

1  Warren,  Lit.  and  Ritual  of  the  Celtic  Churchy  pp.  25,  26.  See  also  Ire- 
land and  the  Celtic  Church,  by  Prof.  Stokes. 

2  Ibid.y  pp.  45,  46.  It  is  very  noteworthy  also  that  in  S.  Patrick's  "Con- 
fession," or  autobiography,  and  his  "Letter"  to  the  Christian  subjects  of 
Coroticus  on  the  Clyde,  as  well  as  in  his  Life  dictated  by  Aedh,  Bishop  of 
Sletty  (died  a.d.  698),  and  preserved  in  the  Book  of  Armagh,  there  is  com- 
plete silence  as  to  any  commission  from  a  Bishop  of  Rome.  S.  Patrick 
describes  himself  only  as  a  Bishop  in  Ireland,  deriving  his  commission  directly 
from  God  (Ibid.,  pp.  36,  37).  In  fact  the  Church  of  Ireland  was  the  last 
in  Europe  to  submit  to  Rome.  It  was  not  until  the  synod  of  Kells  in  1152 
that  the  Irish  Church  accepted  the  Roman  Missal,  and  palls  for  her  four 
Archbishops. 


BRITISH  AND  IRISH  LITURGIES  77 


speaking  people  and  using  a  liturgy  in  Greek.  It  was  not 
then  in  a  position  to  send  out  missionaries  to  such  a  distant 
point  as  "the  other  world"  {alter  orbis),  as  Britain  was 
then  regarded,  though,  as  we  have  already  seen,  Christian 
soldiers  in  the  imperial  army,  and  Christian  traders  and 
merchants  may  have  carried  the  beginnings  of  a  Chris- 
tian community  to  the  coast  towns  and  the  camps  in  that 
country.  All  the  facts  seem  to  point  to  a  source  closer 
by,  namely  Gaul,  separated  from  Britain  by  a  channel 
which,  at  its  narrowest  point,  had  only  eighteen  miles 
of  sea. 

In  the  year  208  the  famous  Church  writer,  Tertullian,  a 
priest  of  the  Church  in  Carthage,  is  the  first  to  speak  defi- 
nitely of  a  Church  in  regions  of  the  Britons  "not  yet  visited 
by  the  Romans. "  1  Irenaeus,  the  Bishop  of  Lyons,  a  dis- 
ciple of  Polycarp,  who  was  a  disciple  of  S.  John,  while  nam- 
ing, in  a.d.  176,  the  branches  of  the  Church  then  in  existence, 
makes  no  allusion  to  any  Church  in  Britain.2  But  the  fol- 
lowing year  a  terrible  persecution  broke  out  in  Celtic  Gaul, 
the  district  around  Lyons  and  Vienne,  and  it  is  probable 
that  the  Christian  refugees  became  the  means  of  establishing 
the  Church  beyond  the  narrow  sea  of  the  Channel  sometime 
between  176  and  208.  However  this  may  be,  there  are 
certain  oriental  features  in  the  remains  of  the  Celtic  liturgy 
and  ritual  which  make  it  most  probable  that  they  are  to  be 
traced  to  this  source  and  time.3  "It  is  well  known,"  writes 
Duchesne,  "that  the  Gallican  Liturgy,  in  the  features  dis- 

1  Britannorum  inaccessa  Romanis  loca,  Adv.  Jud.  vii. 
J  Haer,  i.  10. 

3  Canon  Warren  while  treating  of  the  Celtic  Liturgy  calls  our  attention 
to  the  employment  of  the  fan,  which  is  still  an  accessory  of  liturgic  worship 
in  the  Eastern  Church,  and  also  to  the  use  of  the  Greek  word  "disc"  for 
the  paten.   Lit.  of  Celtic  Church,  pp.  143,  144. 


78    PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


tinguishing  it  from  the  Roman  use,  betrays  all  the  charac- 
teristics of  the  Eastern  liturgies/'  Instead,  however,  of 
adopting  the  view  of  most  English  liturgiologists  that  the 
Gallican  Liturgy,  which  is  the  acknowledged  source  of  the 
Celtic  of  the  British  Isles,  is  the  Liturgy  of  Ephesus  imported 
into  Gaul  by  the  founders  of  the  Church  of  Lyons,  he  is  in- 
clined to  trace  these  oriental  characteristics  through  the 
use  of  Milan,  which  was  the  imperial  and  ecclesiastical  rival 
of  old  Rome  in  the  fourth  century.  "From  the  moment  when 
Rome  became  no  longer  the  centre  of  attraction  [by  the 
removal  of  the  seat  of  empire  to  Milan  and  Constantinople] 
.  .  .  Milan  could  not  fail  to  have  the  preference  over  all 
other  Churches/'  .  .  .  "Many  of  the  most  important  Mil- 
anese peculiarities  in  discipline  and  worship,"  he  adds, 
"have  a  distinctly  Oriental  character."  1 

But  through  whatever  channel,  Ephesine  or  Milanese, 

1  Pp.  92-94.  According  to  Neale  also,  this  Milanese  or  Ambrpsian 
Liturgy  (so-called  after  S.  Ambrose,  the  great  Bishop  of  Milan,  its  reviser 
in  the  fourth  century)  is  "the  Ephesine  moulded  by  contact  with  the 
Petrine"  or  Roman.  (Essays,  p.  171.)  Canon  Warren,  in  his  article  on 
Liturgy  in  the  Ency.  Brit,  nth  ed.,  writes  concerning  the  assumed  Ephesine 
origin  of  the  Hispano-Gallican,  that  it  "lacks  proof  and  may  now  be  regarded 
as  a  discredited  hypothesis."  His  own  discussion  of  the  subject  in  the  same 
article,  however,  seems  rather  to  support  the  opposite  contention.  The 
presumption  appears  to  point  clearly  to  Ephesus  as  the  source  of  the  litur- 
gies of  both  Spain  and  Gaul;  by  S.  Paul  directly  for  the  former  (Rom.  xv, 
24),  and  by  S.  John  indirectly  through  Irenaeus,  Bishop  of  Lyons  (circa 
130-200),  for  the  latter.  The  internal  evidence  seems  to  point  strongly  in 
the  same  direction.  See  Warren's  article,  p.  797,  and  Freeman,  II,  p.  404. 
That  they  were  modified  by  the  Milanese  in  the  fourth  century,  as  Duchesne 
argues,  just  as  the  Celtic  and  British  were  modified  by  the  Roman  in  the 
seventh  century,  is  reasonable  enough.  It  is  difficult,  however,  to  see  how 
this  can  affect  the  fact  of  its  original  source  being  Ephesus  or  some  other 
Eastern  region. 


BRITISH  AND  IRISH  LITURGIES  79 


the  Liturgy  was  first  introduced  into  Gaul,  the  close  early 
connection  between  the  Gallican  and  the  British  people 
and  Churches  tends  strongly  to  confirm  the  view  that  the 
British  and  Celtic  Churches  derived  their  liturgic  customs 
from  the  East  through  Gaul.  During  the  fourth  and  fifth 
centuries  there  was  constant  commercial  intercourse  between 
the  two  countries,  while  many  British  Christians  emigrated 
from  Wales  and  Cornwall  to  Armorica  and  Brittany.  Many 
Gallican  Bishops  such  as  S.  Martin  of  Tours,  Hilary  of 
Poictiers,  Victricius  of  Rouen,  Germanus  of  Auxerre,  and 
Lupus  of  Troyes,  visited,  or  made  their  influence  felt  on  the 
British  Church  between  a.d.  350  and  450,  a  full  century  and 
a  half  before  the  Roman  mission  of  S.  Augustine.  Many 
ancient  British  churches  are  dedicated  to  Gallican  saints, 
as  at  Canterbury  and  Whithern  to  S.  Martin,  and  in  Corn- 
wall and  Wales  to  Germanus  and  Lupus.  Many  Gallican 
saints  are  still  commemorated  in  the  modern  English  calen- 
dar, as  they  had  been  in  its  earlier  British  form.1  The 
British  Church  employed  the  same  Paschal  cycle  as  that  of 
Gaul,  and  used  S.  Jerome's  second  revision  of  the  Latin 
translation  of  the  Psalter  as  used  in  Gaul,  while  the  Roman 
Church  continued  to  use  his  first  revision  down  to  the  year 
1566. 

In  the  Celtic  and  British  liturgies  there  are  also  close 
resemblances  to  Gallican  usage  in  the  Scripture  lessons,  the 
proper  prefaces,  the  position  of  the  benediction,  prayers  for 
the  faithful  departed,  the  Benedicite,  the  ritual  use  of  only 
two  colors,  white  and  purple,  the  use  of  "bidding"  prayers 
("Let  us  pray  for,"  etc.).  Another  marked  feature  of  the 
Gallican  and  British,  as  of  the  modern  English,  use  is  the 
employment  in  the  rubrics  of  the  imperative,  "shall  say," 
or  "let  him  say,"  instead  of  the  indicative,  "he  saith,"  as 

1  See  Gwynne,  The  Christian  Tear,  chap.  xvii. 


8o   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


in  the  Roman.1  It  was  on  these  grounds  in  addition  to  many- 
others  such  as  single  instead  of  trine  immersion,  and  the 
omission  of  unction,  in  Baptism,  the  allowance  of  consecra- 
tion of  a  Bishop  by  a  single  Bishop  instead  of  by  three  as 
required  by  the  Council  of  Nice,  etc.,  that  Gildas,  the  British 
chronicler,  made  the  exaggerated  assertion  about  the  year 
570,  "The  Britons  are  at  variance  with  the  whole  world, 
and  are  opposed  to  Roman  customs. "  2  It  is  evidently  then 
to  Gaul,  and  to  a  branch  of  the  parent  Liturgy  of  S.  John  and 
Ephesus,  and  not  to  Rome,  that  we  must  look  for  the  origin 
of  the  British  Liturgy.  It  has  been  tersely  said,  "Rome  may 
have  been  a  stepmother  of  the  Church  of  England,  but  as- 
suredly the  orthodox  East  has  been  her  Mother."  3 

As  resemblances  are  often  pointed  out  between  the  British 
and  English  Liturgies  and  the  so-called  Mozarabic,  it  is  well 
to  note  that  this  ancient  use  of  the  Church  of  Spain  is  only  a 
modified  form  of  the  Gallican.  The  word  is  derived  from  the 
Arabic,  Arab  most  Arabe,  which  means  an  Arab  by  adoption. 
The  term,  however,  is  a  misnomer  as  the  liturgy  was  used 
long  before  the  Arabic  invasion.  This  national  Spanish  use 
was  replaced  in  the  eleventh  century  by  the  Roman  Liturgy 
by  the  continuous  efforts  of  the  Roman  see,  "with  that 
intolerance  of  other  rites  which  has  so  incalculably  injured 
ecclesiastical  antiquity."  It  was  used  in  six  churches  in 
Toledo  and  many  others  throughout  the  country  until  1842 

1  "The  rubrics  of  all  other  Churches,  Jewish  or  Christian,  Eastern  or 
Western,  Orthodox  or  otherwise,  from  Rome  to  Malabar,  are  in  the  in- 
dicative. 'The  Priest  doth'  so  and  so.  In  the  Gallican,  Spanish,  English, 
and  in  them  alone,  the  imperative  is  used  throughout:  'Let  the  Priest  do 
so  and  so.'"  {Prin.  Div.  Ser.  II,  401.)  "Even  as  regards  the  contents  of 
the  rubrics,  it  may  be  safely  affirmed  that  there  is  not  one  in  the  whole 
office  exactly  agreeing  with  the  Roman"  (Ibid.,  p.  418). 

2  See  Warren,  Lit.  and  Ritual,  etc.,  pp.  59,  61-76,  167. 
*  Lowndes,  II,  545. 


BRITISH  AND  IRISH  LITURGIES  81 


when  most  of  them  were  suppressed  by  the  government.  It 
is  now  confined  to  one  chapel  in  Toledo  and  to  three  other 
parishes  where  it  is  authorized.  A  peculiarity  of  the  Mozar- 
abic,  like  that  of  the  English,  is  that  it  contains  many  little 
addresses  to  the  people.1 

1  See  Neale,  Essays  on  Liturgiology,  pp.  132,  134,  149,  171,  and  Pullan, 
His.  Bk.  C.  P.,  pp.  18,  19. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
Growth  of  the  English  Liturgy 

"If  all  the  liturgies  of  all  the  ancient  Churches  throughout  the  world  be  com' 
■pared  amongst  themselves,  it  may  be  easily  perceived  that  they  had  all  one 
original  mould."  —  Hooker. 

SHORTLY  after  Gregory,  "that  greatest  and  most  lova- 
ble of  Roman  Bishops," 1  sent  Augustine  on  his  mission 
to  convert  the  Angles  and  Saxons,  who  had  driven  the  Brit- 
ish Christians  of  the  older  Church  into  the  mountains  and 
wilds  of  Wales  and  Cornwall,  he  gave  him  directions  concern- 
ing the  liturgy  and  customs  which  he  was  to  provide  for  the 
new  Church  among  his  converts  from  heathenism.  The 
Pope's  letter  was  in  reply  to  questions  which  Augustine  had 
put  to  him  two  years  before  and  was  dated  in  the  summer 
of  601.  Canon  Bright  says,  "Gregory,  who  was  deeply  inter- 
ested in  liturgical  questions,  and  revised  and  re-edited  the 
'Sacramentary'  of  his  predecessor  Gelasius,  and  brought  the 
Eucharistic  ceremonial  to  what  he  considered  an  elaborate 
perfection,  was  at  the  same  time  far  from  being  a  pedant 
or  a  bigot  on  such  points:  he  advised,  on  the  contrary,  a  wise 
eclecticism.  Let  Augustine  'collect  into  a  sort  of  a  bun- 
dle' the  best  usages  of  Rome,  of  Gaul,  or  of  other  Churches, 
whatever  he  had  found  to  be  most  pious,  religious,  righteous 
and  most  likely  to  be  pleasing  to  God,  and  so  form  a  ritual  of 
the  English  Christians,  who  were  as  yet  young  in  faith  and 
could  become  accustomed  to  whatever  was  given  to  them. 
There  was  no  need  to  stick  blindly  to  the  Roman  observances 


1  W.  Bright,  Early  English  Church  History,  p.  34. 


THE  ENGLISH  LITURGY 


83 


as  such."  1  And  he  adds,  "For  things  are  not  to  be  loved 
for  the  sake  of  places,  but  places  for  the  sake  of  good  things."  2 
In  passing,  it  is  well  to  observe  the  marked  contrast  between 
this  broad-minded  policy  of  the  great  Bishop  of  the  seventh 
century  and  the  course  now  and  for  long  pursued  by  his 
successors  in  that  see,  by  which  the  national  Liturgies  of 
France,  Spain,  and  every  other  country  where  the  Papacy 
has  control,  are  suppressed  and  supplanted  by  that  of 
Rome. 

It  is  not  possible  to  say  to  what  extent  Augustine  made 
use  of  Gregory's  suggestion  as  to  preparing  a  composite 
Liturgy  for  the  young  Anglo-Saxon  Church.  He  probably 
did  not  possess  the  necessary  faculty  which  was  so  conspicu- 
ous in  his  master  Gregory,  and  besides  was  too  busy  with 
his  rough  missionary  work  to  give  much  time  to  liturgical 
affairs.  He  seems  to  have  contented  himself  therefore  with 
establishing  the  Roman  use  in  part,  just  as  a  modern  English 
or  American  Bishop  would  establish  the  Anglican  service 
in  a  heathen  land,  but  with  certain  modifications.  These, 
in  Augustine's  case,  would  naturally  be  derived  from  his 
knowledge  of  the  Gallican  liturgy  acquired  during  his  stay 
in  Gaul,  and  in  this  he  would  doubtless  have  the  sympathy 
of  Queen  Bertha  of  Kent  (whose  Saxon  husband,  Ethelbert, 
was  his  first  convert),  and  the  help  of  the  Gallican  Bishop 
who  was  her  chaplain,  and  who  conducted  the  Church  ser- 
vices according  to  the  Gallican  use,  in  the  little  Church  of 
S.  Martin  in  Canterbury.3 

More  than  a  century  passed  away  before  the  ancient 
British  Churches  and  those  founded  by  Augustine  drew  to- 

1  Early  English  Church,  p.  57. 
a  Bede,  His.  Ecc,  i,  27. 

3  "The  Anglo-Saxon  books  abound  in  Gallican  details."  Duchesne,  p. 
99,  and  compare  Freeman,  Prin.  Div.  Ser.  Ill,  418. 


84   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


gether.  Augustine's  untactful  and  imperious  treatment  of 
the  British  Bishops  and  their  natural  hostility  to  the  race 
that  drove  them  from  their  land,  as  well  as  their  different 
traditional  usages,  were  the  chief  occasion  of  this  delay. 
Though  the  Celtic  Churches  of  Britain  and  Ireland,  as  we 
have  seen,  did  such  splendid  work  abroad,  and  though  the 
Scottish-Irish  Church  was  the  chief  agent  in  winning  the 
greater  part  of  England  (Northumbria,  Norfolk,  Suffolk, 
Essex,  and  Mercia,  or  the  country  bordering  on  North  Wales) 
to  the  faith  of  Christ,  it  took  much  time  and  mutual  for- 
bearance to  bring  the  two  races  and  the  two  branches  of 
the  Church  into  formal  and  genuine  unity.1  It  is  noteworthy, 
however,  that  this  union  was  effected  150  years  before  the 
seven  petty  Saxon  kingdoms  were  united,  as  they  were  in 
827,  under  King  Egbert.  Even  at  the  end  of  the  eighth 
century  this  modified  Roman  use  of  Augustine  had  not 
entirely  supplanted  the  modified  Gallican  of  the  earlier 
period.  The  older  Church  of  the  Britons  still  clung  tenaciously 
to  its  usages.  We  find  that  as  late  as  747,  when  the  Council 
of  Clovesho  passed  a  canon  requiring  the  use  of  the  Roman 
Liturgy,  the  Celtic  Liturgy  still  retained  its  hold  in  the  land. 
Fifty  years  later  the  Scottish  Liturgy  introduced  by  the 
missionaries  from  Iona,  was  still  in  daily  use  in  the  Church 
of  York,  and  a  letter  of  Alcuin,  the  famous  Yorkshire  head- 
master of  the  great  school  of  Charlemagne,2  written  from 
France  to  Eanbald,  Archbishop  of  York,  tells  us  that  there 
were  then  in  use  some  service  books  "that  did  not  entirely 
agree  with  the  Roman."    In  Scotland  the  Celtic  Liturgy 

1  Theodore,  a  Greek  of  Tarsus  in  Cilicia,  who  became  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  in  668,  and  "was  as  able  and  energetic  as  he  was  conscientious," 
did  much  to  secure  this  unity.  "He  doubtless  made  concessions,"  Duchesne 
says,  p.  99. 

2  See  Lingard,  Anglo-Saxon  Churchy  I,  229. 


THE  ENGLISH  LITURGY 


85 


remained  in  use  until  the  eleventh  century  when  the  saintly 
Queen  Margaret,  cousin  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  and  wife 
of  King  Malcolm  Canmore,  took  steps  to  get  it  abolished.1 
It  was  not  until  1200  that  the  Church  of  Wales  was  fully 
united  with  the  Church  of  England. 

After  the  Norman  Conquest  in  1066  the  Liturgy  of  the 
united  Celtic  and  Anglo-Saxon  Churches,  now  called  the 
Church  of  England,2  received  a  new  impress  at  the  hands  of 
Osmund,  a  Norman  Count,  who  was  consecrated  in  1085 
as  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  and  was  Chancellor  also  of  England 
under  the  Conqueror.  The  efforts  to  bring  the  ancient 
British  rite  and  that  introduced  by  Augustine  into  complete 
accord,  or  rather,  to  supplant  the  older  rite  with  the  new, 
had  not  been  completely  successful.  Nothing  is  more  tena- 
cious in  its  hold  on  mind  and  heart  than  traditional  customs 
of  devotion,  and  the  ways  of  the  older  Church  were  not,  and 
could  not  be,  completely  eradicated.  The  result  was  that 
many  variations  of  the  Liturgy  existed  throughout  the  land 
at  the  time  of  the  Conquest.  It  was  to  correct  as  far  as  possi- 
ble this  lack  of  national  uniformity  that  Osmund  is  said  to 
have  revised  the  books  which  he  found  in  his  own  diocese 
of  Sarum  or  Salisbury.  In  1087  he  remodelled,  after  the 
pattern  of  the  use  of  Rouen,  the  daily  services  of  the  Church, 
in  the  volume  then  known  as  the  Portiforium;  the  Liturgy 
proper,  or  Communion  Service,  in  the  Missal;  and  probably 
also  the  Baptismal  and  other  "occasional"  offices  in  what 
was  called  the  Manual.  It  was  these  and  some  other  books 
that  constituted  the  "Sarum  Use,"  that  is,  the  Prayer  Book 

1  See  Warren,  Lit.  and  Ritual,  etc.  pp.  76,  77,  155;  and  Bright,  Early 
English  Church,  p.  90. 

2  "It  was  not  until  Eadgar's  day  [King  from  958  to  975]  that  the  name 
of  Britain  passed  into  the  name  of  Engla-land,  the  land  of  Englishmen, 
England."    (Green,  His.  English  People,  I,  p.  9). 


86  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


of  the  Diocese  of  Salisbury.1  This  revision  was  so  acceptable 
that  it  was  introduced  into  other  dioceses  of  the  land,  and 
became  the  principal  devotional  rule  of  the  Church  of 
England  for  more  than  four  centuries.  Its  use  was  soon 
adopted  also  in  the  Churches  of  Wales  and  of  Ireland.2 

Even  down  to  the  year  1549  when  the  first  revised  Prayer 
Book  was  appointed  for  the  whole  Church,  "great  diversity 
within  this  Realm"  continued,  "some  following  Salisbury  Use, 
some  Hereford  Use,  and  some  the  Use  of  Bangor  [Wales], 
some  of  York,  some  of  Lincoln. "  3  "At  S.  Paul's  Cathedral, 
and  perhaps  throughout  the  Diocese  of  London,  there  was 
an  independent  Use  until  a.d.  1414;  and  probably  there 
were  several  others  in  Cathedral  Churches,  while  the  Roman 
system  was  adopted  by  most  monasteries."  4 

As  the  copies  of  the  Sarum  use  which  we  possess  belong 
to  a  much  later  period  than  the  eleventh  century,  we  have 
no  means  of  knowing  just  what  changes  Osmund  or  his 
successor,  Bishop  Poore,  introduced  into  the  service  books. 

1  Dr.  Frere  takes  the  view  that  Osmund  was  only  the  author  of  the 
endowment  of  the  Cathedral,  and  of  its  constitution,  which  soon  became 
the  model  for  other  cathedral  bodies.  He  says,  "There  is  no  evidence  that 
S.  Osmund's  work  dealt  with  the  liturgical  arrangements:  it  was  left  to 
Richard  Poore,  first  as  Dean  and  then  as  Bishop,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  when  the  see  was  transferred  from  Old  Sarum  to  New 
Sarum,  and  from  the  old  Norman  cathedral  which  has  perished  to  the 
existing  Early  English  building,  both  to  develop  more  fully  in  his  Consue- 
tudinary the  constitutional  legislation  of  S.  Osmund,  and  to  add  to  this  a 
full  code  of  liturgical  rules."  New  His.  of  the  B.  C.  P.,  p.  15.  Palmer  says, 
"When  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  celebrated  the  liturgy  in  the  presence 
of  his  province,  the  Bishop  of  Salisbury  acted  as  precentor  of  the  college  of 
Bishops,  a  title  which  he  still  retains."   Orig.  Lit.  I,  xi.  187. 

2  See  Blunt,  Ann.  Pr.  Bk.  p.  xviii;  Palmer,  Originesy  I,  xi,  187. 

3  Concerning  the  Service  of  the  Churchy  in  the  Preface  to  the  English 
Book  of  Common  Prayer. 

4  Blunt,  Ann.  Pr.  Bk.>  pp.  xviii,  xix. 


THE  ENGLISH  LITURGY 


87 


We  do  know,  however,  that  at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth 
century  all  the  services,  not  only  for  the  Holy  Communion 
but  for  the  Daily  Prayers,  Holy  Baptism,  Confirmation, 
Ordination,  etc.,  had  become  very  complicated  and  difficult 
even  for  the  clergy,  and  many  superstitious  accretions  had 
gathered  around  the  ancient  devotions  of  the  Church.  "As 
early  as  the  year  15 16,"  writes  Archdeacon  Freeman,  that  is, 
fifteen  years  before  Henry  VIIFs  break  with  Rome  on  ac- 
count of  his  marriage  with  his  brother's  widow,  "we  discern 
the  first  indication  of  a  steady  design  and  endeavour,  never 
afterwards  abandoned,  of  amending  the  existing  condition 
of  the  ancient  English  Service-books.  In  that  year  appeared 
an  edition  of  the  Sarum  Breviary  [Portiforium,  or  Book  of 
Daily  Prayers],  differing  so  widely,  at  least  in  point  of 
arrangement  and  method,  if  not  in  its  actual  contents,  from 
all  previous  editions,  that  a  peculiarly  informed  antiquarian 
has  not  hesitated  to  designate  it  by  the  title  Reformatum." 
In  these  changes,  he  adds,  "we  discern  two,  at  least,  of  the 
leading  principles  which  governed  the  Revision  of  1549: 
first,  the  simplification  of  the  use  of  the  Office;  and  secondly, 
the  increased  provision  of  Holy  Scripture."  1 

"In  153 1,"  writes  Mr.  Blunt,  "this  Reformed  Edition  of 
the  Salisbury  Portiforium  or  Breviary  was  reprinted;  and 
two  years  later  the  Missal  [Office  for  Holy  Communion]  was 
published,  reformed  on  the  same  principles;  in  the  latter 
special  care  being  taken  to  provide  an  apparatus  for  enabling 
the  people  to  find  out  the  places  of  the  Epistles  and  Gospels. 
A  fresh  impulse  seems  thus  to  have  been  given  to  the  use 
of  the  old  English  Prymers,  in  which  a  large  portion  of  the 
Services  (including  the  Litany)  was  translated  into  the 
vulgar  tongue,  and  also  a  third  of  the  Psalms,  and  to  which 
in  later  times  the  Epistles  and  Gospels  were  added.  In  1530 
also  had  been  published  an  admirable  commentary  on  some 


1  Prin.  Div.  Service,  Vol.  II,  Intro.,  p.  102. 


88  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


of  the  daily  services  (in  which  the  greater  part  of  them  is 
translated  into  English),  under  the  title  of  'The  Mirroure 
of  our  Ladye/  which  furnishes  a  strong  indication  of  the 
endeavours  that  were  being  made  to  render  Divine  Service 
intelligible  to  those  who  could  not  read  Latin. 

"In  1 541  another  amended,  and  still  further  reformed, 
edition  of  the  Salisbury  Breviary  was  published,  in  the  title- 
page  of  which  it  is  said  to  be  purged  from  many  errors.  By 
order  ot  Convocation  (March  3,  1 541-2)  this  was  adopted 
throughout  the  whole  province  of  Canterbury,  and  an  uni- 
formity secured  which  had  not  existed  since  the  days  of 
Augustine.  With  this  edition  an  order  was  also  put  forth 
that  Lessons  should  be  read  in  English  after  the  Te  Deum 
and  Magnificat." 

We  have  now,  before  her  complete  break  with  the  Bishop 
of  Rome,  reached  the  end  of  the  third  great  period  in  the 
history  of  the  worship  of  the  Church  of  England.  Each  of 
these  stages  consists  of  a  term  of  about  five  hundred  years. 
The  first  is  the  period  during  which  the  Apostolic  Liturgy 
found  its  way  from  Jerusalem,  through  Ephesus  and  Lyons, 
modified  possibly  by  that  of  Rome  through  Milan,  to  the 
Celtic  Church  in  the  British  Isles.  It  is  bounded  by  the  time 
when  the  Angles  and  Saxons  from  Germany  drove  the 
Christians  of  South  Britain  from  their  homes.  The  second 
period  is  that  beginning  with  the  year  601  when  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  converts  under  Augustine  received  from  him  a  liturgy 
partly  Roman,  partly  Gallican,  which,  after  the  blending 
of  the  ancient  British  Church  with  that  of  the  Anglo-Saxons, 
had  now  elements  and  characteristics  of  both  communions, 
thus  combining  to  make  what,  from  the  middle  of  the  tenth 
century,  was  known  henceforth  as  the  Use  of  the  Church  of 
England.  The  third  period  is  that  which  we  have  been  just 
considering,  beginning  with  the  Norman  Conquest,  the 


1  Ann.  Pr.  Bk.,  p.  xix. 


THE  ENGLISH  LITURGY 


89 


introduction  of  the  higher  education  and  culture  of  the 
Continent  through  the  Bishops  and  clergy  of  Norman  birth, 
especially  by  the  work  of  Osmund,  and  Poore,  and  with  it 
all,  in  the  course  of  time,  much  of  the  superstition  and  the 
erroneous  teaching  and  practice  of  the  Churches  of  the 
Continent  in  communion  with  Rome. 

But  against  this  deterioration  in  worship  as  in  life  there 
was  constant  protest,  especially  throughout  the  fourteenth 
and  fifteenth  centuries.  It  was  during  this  time  that  there 
were  established  such  collegiate  schools  as  that  of  S.  Mary 
Winton,  by  William  of  Wykeham,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  in 
1382;  that  of  Eton  by  Henry  VI  in  1440;  of  Higham  Ferrers 
by  Chichely,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  about  the  same 
time;  of  S.  Paul's  Cathedral,  by  Dean  Colet,  sixty  years 
later;  and  colleges  at  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  of  which  these 
schools  were  meant  to  be  feeders.  From  these  and  similar 
schools  of  learning  and  religion  proceeded  the  influences 
that  were  ever  tending  to  challenge  and  curb  the  usurped 
and  tyrannical  claims  of  the  Papacy  as  it  had  developed  since 
the  pure  days  of  the  first  Gregory,  surnamed  the  Great,  to 
whom  England  and  her  Church  owed  so  much,  religiously 
and  intellectually.  These  were  largely  the  sources  of  the 
ferment  in  Church  and  Nation  which  at  last  brought  about 
that  reformation  in  doctrine,  and  worship,  which  found  its 
best  illustration  in  1549  in  the  "First  Prayer  Book  of  Edward 
the  Sixth,"  that  is,  "The  Booke  of  the  Common  Prayer  and 
Administration  of  the  Sacramentes,  and  Other  Rites  and 
Ceremonies  of  the  Churche:  after  the  Use  of  the  Churche  of 
England."  How  this  revision  of  the  ancient  offices  of  the 
Church  was  accomplished  must  be  the  subject  for  our  next 
consideration. 


CHAPTER  IX 


The  Beginnings  of  Reform 

"  There  was  never  anything  by  the  wit  of  man  so  well  devised,  or  so  surely 
established,  which  in  continuance  of  time  hath  not  been  corrupted:  As, 
among  other  things,  it  may  plainly  appear  by  the  Common  Prayers  in  the 
Church,  commonly  called  Divine  Service."  —  Preface  to  the  English 
Prayer  Book. 

BEFORE  proceeding  to  consider  the  method  by  which 
the  ancient  offices  of  worship  of  the  Church  were 
brought  to  their  present  condition,  it  will  be  necessary  for 
us  to  understand  something  of  what  is  called  the  English 
Reformation.  This  was  far  from  being  a  sudden  catastrophe 
which  broke  out  and  was  completed  in  the  later  days  of  Henry 
VIII.  On  the  contrary,  it  may  be  truly  said  that  it  covered 
a  period  of  two  hundred  years  or  more,  namely,  from  the 
middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  (c.  1450)  to  the  middle  of  the 
seventeenth  (1662).  Even  in  the  eleventh,  twelfth,  and 
thirteenth  centuries  we  find  protests  of  Englishmen  against 
the  interference  of  the  Bishops  of  Rome  in  the  affairs  of  the 
English  Church.  When  Gregory  VII,  the  famous  Hilde- 
brand,  the  most  extreme  exponent  of  papal  assumptions, 
took  upon  him  to  grant  the  crown  of  England  to  William  of 
Normandy,  the  Conqueror  met  his  later  claims  by  the 
declaration  that  he  would  not  do  fealty  for  his  kingdom,  or 
permit  any  papal  legate  to  set  foot  on  English  soil  without 
royal  permission.1  In  1076,  when  Gregory  commanded  all 
married  clergy  of  the  English  Church  to  put  away  their 
wives,  a  council  of  the  English  Church  refused  to  allow  the 
1  Stubbs,  Consitutional  History,  I,  p.  310. 


BEGINNINGS  OF  REFORM  91 


new  regulation,  and  up  to  1102  the  parochial  clergy  were 
generally  married.  In  11 64  the  council  of  Clarendon  forbade 
all  appeals  to  Rome  without  the  King's  consent.  When 
King  John  (1199-1216)  agreed  to  make  the  whole  kingdom 
subservient  to  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  the  clergy,  barons,  and 
people,  calling  themselves  "The  Army  of  God  and  the 
Church,"  under  the  leadership  of  Stephen  Langton,  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  rose  up  against  John,  and  on  the 
15th  of  June,- 1 21 5,  compelled  the  King  to  sign  the  Great 
Charter  (Magna  Charta),  the  first  article  of  which  reads: 
"The  Church  of  England  shall  be  free,  and  shall  have  her 
rights  entire,  and  her  liberties  uninjured." 1  "It  was," 
writes  Hore,  "the  army,  not  only  of  the  barons  against  the 
King,  but  of  the  Church  against  the  Pope." 

The  "Statute  of  Provisors,"  beginning,  "Whereas  the 
Holy  Church  of  England  was  founded,  etc.,"  passed  by 
Parliament  in  1350,  and  the  statutes  of  "  Praemunire,"  passed 
in  1353,  1365,  and  1393,  left  scarcely  a  vestige  of  papal 
authority  in  England.  They  forbade  the  appointment  by 
the  Bishop  of  Rome  to  any  bishopric  or  other  Church  dignity 
in  England,  and  prohibited  the  carrying  of  suits  to  the  Roman 

1  "In  primis  .  .  .  quod  Anglic  ana  Ecclesia  libera  sit,  et  habeat  jura  sua 
Integra,  et  libertates  suas  illaesas."  Attention  is  called  to  the  fact  that  the 
name  of  the  Church  recorded  here  is  that  which  she  had  from  the  begin- 
ning in  the  sixth  century,  the  Church  of  the  English,  and  not  the  Church 
of  Rome  in  England.  Roman  canon  law  was  never  recognised  in  England, 
and  there  was  no  Church  of  Rome  in  England  until  1570  when  the  Roman 
Bishop,  finding  that  the  Church  would  no  longer  submit  to  his  unlawful 
claims,  sent  foreign  priests  into  the  country,  by  whom  certain  members  of 
the  ancient  Church  of  the  land  were  induced  to  forsake  their  parish  churches, 
and  form  a  new  schismatical  body.  The  first  Roman  bishops  only  appeared 
in  England  in  1623,  and  it  was  not  until  1850  that  they  ventured  to  call 
themselves  bishops  of  English  dioceses.  Up  to  that  time  they  only  assumed 
the  disused  titles  of  certain  bishoprics  in  partibus  infidelium,  that  is,  in 
heathen  countries. 


92   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


court,  or  the  obtaining  of  any  appointments,  bulls,  or  excom- 
munications from  Rome,  under  penalty  of  confiscation  and 
perpetual  imprisonment.1 

This  traditional  attitude  of  the  English  Church  is  well 
summed  up  in  the  words  of  Archdeacon  Manning  before  his 
forsaking  his  mother  Church  for  the  Roman  obedience:  "If 
any  man  will  look  down  the  line  of  early  English  history, 
he  will  see  a  standing  contest  between  the  rulers  of  this  land 
and  the  Bishops  of  Rome.  The  Crown  and  Church  of  Eng- 
land, with  a  steady  opposition,  resisted  the  entrance  and 
encroachment  of  the  secularized  ecclesiastical  power  of  the 
Pope  in  England.  The  last  rejection  of  it  [in  1534]  was  no 
more  than  a  successful  effort  after  many  a  failure  in  strug- 
gles of  the  like  kind."  We  need  not  wonder  that  when  Dr. 
Manning  became  a  prelate  of  the  Roman  communion  he 
declared  that  "the  appeal  to  history  is  treason." 

But  the  beginnings  of  reform  of  abuses  in  the  Church  are 
perhaps  best  seen  in  the  work  of  Wicliffe,  Rector  of  Lut- 
terworth, and  "a  celebrated  teacher  in  the  university  of 
Oxford  .  .  .  enthusiastic  and  fearless  in  temper,  solid  in  at- 
tainment, brilliant  in  argument,  fierce  and  unsparing  even 
for  the  Middle  Ages  in  denunciation.  .  .  .  Worldly  position, 
political  power,  temporal  wealth,  seemed  to  Wicliffe  to  be 
absolutely  incompatible  with  the  clerical  office.  Like  S. 
Francis  of  Assisi,  he  believed  that  in  the  life  of  poverty  was 
to  be  found  the  true  following  of  Christ.  But  unlike  S. 
Francis  he  vindicated  his  position  by  attacking  those  who 
held  a  different  theory  instead  of  simply  living  out  his 

1  See  Gibson,  Codex,  pp.  74,  80-87,  1222.  Even  long  before  the  Norman 
Conquest  the  aggressions  of  the  Roman  Bishop  were  invariably  resisted, 
as  in  the  notable  case  of  Wilfrid,  Archbishop  of  York  in  the  seventh  cen- 
tury, upheld  by  Rome,  but  condemned  by  an  English  synod;  and  the 
similar  case  of  Stigand,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  in  the  eleventh  century. 


BEGINNINGS  OF  REFORM 


own  life  on  his  own  theory.  In  fact  he  was  a  polemic, 
not  a  saint."1 

Wicliffe  obtained  a  ready  following  among  the  poor. 
"The  dumb  mass  who  had  suffered  in  silence  so  long  had 
found  a  voice  and  a  leader."  With  all  his  ability,  however, 
and  his  enthusiasm,  he  was  not  well-balanced.  His  specu- 
lations in  theology  were  condemned  by  the  Church,  and  his 
teaching  caused  many  of  his  clerical  students  to  become 
communists,  and  advocates  of  the  seizure  of  all  property. 
For  this  he  was  also  formally  condemned  in  1382,  but  he  was 
allowed  to  pass  the  rest  of  his  days  in  peace  at  his  country 
rectory  of  Lutterworth,  without  ever  being  called  upon  to 
retract  his  heresy.  "There  he  busied  himself  with  the  most 
important  work  of  his  life,  the  translation  of  the  Bible  into 
English.  In  its  Latin  translation  —  the  Vulgate  —  the  Bible 
had  always  been  in  the  hands  of  the  scholar;  parts  of  it, 
such  as  the  Gospels  and  Epistles,  had  been  frequently  trans- 
lated into  English  since  the  days  of  Bede  [673-735]  anc^ 
Alfred  [849-901].  Every  person  who  could  read  was  able 
in  the  Middle  Ages  to  procure  without  difficulty  those  parts 
of  the  Bible  which  were  used  in  the  Church  services.  But  to 
Wicliffe  England  owes  the  translation  of  the  whole  Bible, 
and  the  original  of  our  present  version,  written  in  prose 
which  by  its  nerve  and  strength  has  done  much  to  fix  for 
ever  the  genius  of  the  English  language."  2 

These  were  some  of  the  steps  which  heralded  and  led  the 
way  to  the  work  of  thorough  reform  of  the  Church  in  Eng- 

1  Wakeman,  History  of  the  Church  of  England,  p.  150.  Bishop  Stubbs  of 
Oxford,  the  eminent  historian,  describes  this  book  as  "the  most  precious 
history  of  the  Church  of  England  that  has  ever  been  written,  a  book  scholar- 
like, lucid,  full  of  matter,  full  of  interest,  just  and  true,  and  inspired  with 
faith,  hope,  and  charity,  as  few  Church  histories,  or  any  other  histories, 
have  ever  been  written." 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  151,  152. 


94   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


land.  Much  was  done  in  the  sixteenth  century,  not  by  the 
Church  but  by  the  State,  which  is  not  to  be  defended.  Chief 
among  these  things  was  the  destruction  of  the  monasteries, 
and  the  appropriation  of  their  property  to  the  enrichment  of 
royal  favorites.  The  monasteries  were  undoubtedly  the 
strongholds  of  Roman  influence  as  being  removed  from  the 
control  of  their  own  Bishops,  and  subject  only  to  the  Pope. 
They  had  also  outgrown  the  usefulness  of  their  early  days 
when  they  were  centres  of  missionary  operations,  schools  of 
learning,  of  book-making,  and  of  art;  their  inmates  the 
drainers  of  swamps,  the  intelligent  farmers  of  the  land,  the 
architects  of  churches,  and  the  overseers  and  almoners  of 
the  poor.  Their  very  usefulness  and  their  prosperity  had 
become  the  occasion  of  their  corruption,  and  this  proved  too 
strong  a  temptation  to  unscrupulous  statesmen  to  despoil 
them,  instead  of  applying  their  wealth,  to  the  foundation  of 
more  modern  schools  of  learning  such  as  that  great  Church- 
man, Cardinal  Wolsey,  did  when  he  partly  carried  out  his 
plans  for  Christ  Church  College  at  Oxford,  and  his  Grammar 
School  at  Ipswich.  The  Church's  work  of  reformation  was 
properly  concerned  for  the  most  part  with  her  teaching,  and 
her  offices  of  worship,  and  this  was  done,  though  often  under 
great  difficulties,  through  the  orderly  and  legal  instrumen- 
talities of  her  houses  of  Convocation,  the  clerical  representa- 
tive bodies  of  the  provinces  of  Canterbury  and  York;  while 
the  two  houses  of  Parliament,  all  its  lay  members,  at  this 
time  necessarily  communicants  of  the  Church,  represented 
the  laity. 

We  have  already  seen  (in  1516,  1530,  153 1,  and  1533)  a 
beginning  of  this  work  of  reform,  while  the  Church  and  State 
alike  still  permitted  a  certain  measure  of  authority  to  the 
Roman  see,  or  at  least  before  they  formally  rejected  that 
authority.    In  1534,  however,  the  bold  and  final  step  was 


BEGINNINGS  OF  REFORM  95 


taken  which  opened  up  the  way  to  independent  action  by 
the  Church.  On  March  31  of  that  year  the  Convocation  of 
Canterbury  voted,  "That  the  Roman  Bishop  has  no  greater 
jurisdiction  given  to  him  by  God  in  this  kingdom  than  any 
other  foreign  bishop."  On  June  1st,  York  voted,  "That  the 
Roman  Bishop  has  not  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  any  greater 
jurisdiction  in  the  kingdom  of  England  than  any  foreign 
Bishop."  1  Individual  Bishops  such  as  Shaxton  of  Salisbury, 
Robert  of  Chichester,  Longland  of  Lincoln,  Lee  of  York, 
Tonstal  of  Durham,  and  the  chief  abbots  with  their  monks, 
all  preached  or  signed  instruments  renouncing  the  Pope's 
authority  and  supremacy.  "This  universal  renunciation, 
though  no  doubt  influenced  by  authority  and  pressure,  is 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  facts  in  the  history  of  the 
Reformation."  2 

This  was  the  final  event  which  prepared 'the  way  for  the 
thorough  revision  of  the  Church's  books  of  devotion.  Other 
and  kindred  work  in  the  publication  of  the  whole  Bible  in 
English  (1539),  and  declarations  in  regard  to  points  of  doc- 
trine and  morals,  was  of  course  also  undertaken  by  the 
Church  in  her  corporate  capacity,  but  in  view  of  the  purpose 
of  this  volume  we  must  confine  ourselves  solely  to  the  con- 
sideration of  what  deals  directly  with  the  offices  of  public 
worship. 

The  first  definite  step  in  this  direction,  beyond  those 
already  mentioned,  was  taken  in  1542,  when  Cranmer,  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  laid  before  Convocation  a  proposal 
to  amend  the  service  books.  In  the  session  of  Feb.  21,  1543, 
the  Archbishop  "signified  to  the  House  that  it  was  his 
Majesty's  will  that  'all  mass-books,  antiphoners,  portuisses 

1  Wilkins,  iii,  782. 

1  See  Perry,  History  of  the  Cb.  of  England  from  the  Accession  of  Henry  VII 7, 
chap,  vi,  pp.  102,  103. 


96    PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP      THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


\_portiforiay  or  breviaries]  in  the  Church  of  England,  should 
be  newly  examined,  corrected,  reformed,  and  castigated  from 
all  manner  of  mention  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome's  name,  from 
all  apocryphas,  feigned  legends,  superstitious  orations, 
collects,  versicles  and  responses/ "  etc.  A  committee  of 
eight  persons  consisting  of  Bishops  Shaxton  of  Salisbury  and 
Goodrich  of  Ely,  with  three  of  the  Lower  House  of  clerical 
representatives  joined  to  each  of  them,  was  appointed  to 
undertake  the  work.  At  a  later  date  the  committee  was 
much  enlarged.  Shaxton  died,  and  Cranmer,  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  became  chairman,  with  six  other  Bishops 
including  Goodrich  associated  with  him.  The  number  of 
the  members  from  the  Lower  House  remained  unchanged.1 

It  is  noteworthy  that  the  first  work  accomplished  and  put 
forth  by  this  committee  was  the  translation  and  revision  of 
the  Litany,  which  the  King  urged  on  account  of  the  miser- 
able state  of  Christendom,  distracted  by  wars  and  other 
troubles.  It  was  the  hand  of  Cranmer  that  wrought  this 
exquisite  piece  of  devotion,  using  the  old  Latin  "processions," 
but  altering  and  adding  as  seemed  in  his  judgment  to  answer 
best  the  purpose  of  such  a  supplication.  This  was  sung  for 
the  first  time  in  S.  Paul's  Cathedral  on  the  18th  day  of 
October,  being  S.  Luke's  Day  and  a  Sunday,  1544,  and 
ordered  to  be  sung  in  every  parish  church  in  England.  This 
service,  together  with  a  chapter  in  English  from  the  Old 
Testament,  and  one  also  from  the  New,  was  the  whole  amount 
of  English  service  which  was  authorized,  though  it  is  probable 
that  more  was  used  irregularly,  during  the  reign  of  Henry. 

Nothing  more  was  accomplished  in  the  reformation  of 
worship  in  Henry's  lifetime,  his  death  occurring  on  Jan.  28, 
1547.  The  King's  part  in  the  reformation  was  not  in  matters 
of  doctrine  and  worship,  except  so  far  as  we  have  seen  above. 

1  Blunt,  Ann.  Pr.  Bk.,  p.  xxii. 


BEGINNINGS  OF  REFORM  97 


In  these  respects  he  lived  and  died,  for  the  most  part,  in  the 
beliefs  and  practices  of  what  was  called  "the  old  learning,', 
the  ways  of  mediaeval  England.  And  this  was  well  for  the 
Church  as  it  "had  the  effect  of  hindering  fanatical  and  hasty 
proceedings,  and  allowing  the  Church  slowly  and  carefully 
to  mature  her  services  and  her  teaching."  1  All  that  Henry 
really  accomplished  by  his  dominating  character  and  absolute 
authority  as  King,  was  the  support  which  he  gave  to  setting 
the  Church  completely  free  from  all  control  of  Rome,  some- 
thing which,  though  representing  thoroughly  the  mind  of 
the  English  people,  could  not  then  have  been  done  without 
his  powerful  help. 

1  Perry,  chap,  x,  p.  176. 


CHAPTER  X 


The  First  Reformed  Prayer  Book 


"  They  had  a  profound  disbelief  in  theory,  and  knew  better  than  to  commit  the 
folly  of  breaking  with  the  fast.  They  were  not  seduced  by  the  French 
fallacy  that  a  new  system  of  government  could  be  ordered  like  a  new  suit 
of  clothes.  They  would  as  soon  have  thought  of  ordering  a  suit  of  flesh 
and  skin.  It  is  only  on  the  roaring  loom  of  time  that  the  stuff  is  woven 
for  such  a  vesture  of  their  thought  and  experience  as  they  were  meditating." 
—  J.  R.  Lowell.1 


E  must  now  consider  the  character  of  the  work  which 


V  ▼  the  committee  of  Convocation  had  to  do.  The 
Prayer  Book  as  we  have  it  today  is  sometimes  spoken  of  as 
a  " compilation,"  and  the  men  who  formed  it  its  "compilers." 
Nothing  could  be  farther  from  the  fact.  The  duty  laid  on 
them  was  to  "examine,  correct,  reform,  and  castigate,"  etc., 
the  service  books  that  had  been  used  from  time  immemorial 
in  the  Church,  but  which,  in  the  course  of  the  years,  had 
become  cumbered  with  useless  ceremonies,  difficult  rules, 
and  many  erroneous  notions.  They  were  to  be  revisers  and 
not  compilers.  There  had  been  many  revisions  of  the  Liturgy 
of  the  Church  Catholic  in  many  lands  and  in  many  ages  of 
the  past.  S.  Basil  of  Caesarea  and  S.  Chrysostom  of  Con- 
stantinople had  done  much  in  the  fourth  century  for  the 
Liturgy  of  Jerusalem  and  Antioch.  Leo  (440-461),  Gelasius 
(492-496),  and  Gregory  the  Great  (590-604),  all  Bishops  of 
Rome,  had  done  similar  things  for  the  Roman  Liturgy.  The 
name  of  S.  Ambrose  attaches  to  another  revision  used  in 
his  archdiocese  of  Milan.  We  do  not  know  however  to  what 


1  Address  on  Democracy  and  the  Adoption  of  the  American  Constitution. 


THE  FIRST  REFORMED  BOOK 


extent  these  various  revisers  were  responsible  for  the  points 
of  difference  between  their  versions  and  the  originals.1  We 
have  already  learnt  what  Augustine  was  directed  to  do  for 
the  new  Church  of  the  English,  and  what  doubtless  many- 
other  Bishops  and  Priests  in  England  did  afterwards  to 
bring  about  that  merging  of  the  old  Celtic  use  with  that  of 
Augustine.  We  have  learnt  also  of  the  notable  work  attrib- 
uted to  Osmund  in  1087,  or  to  his  successor  Bishop  Poore 
a  century  later,  which  drew  from  a  writer  in  1256  the  decla- 
ration that  the  Church  of  Salisbury  was  "conspicuous  above 
all  other  Churches,  like  the  sun  in  the  heavens,  diffusing  its 
light  everywhere,  and  supplying  their  defects."  2  About  the 
time  of  Osmund's  work  Gregory  VII,  or  Hildebrande  (1073- 
1085),  revised  and  abbreviated  the  Daily  Offices,  which  after 
that  were  called  the  Breviary,  though  the  favorite  title  for 
the  book  in  England  was  Portuary  or  Portuisse.3 

Nor  was  the  felt  need  of  revision  confined  to  the  Church 
of  England  in  the  sixteenth  century.  Hermann,  Archbishop 
of  Cologne,  attempted  such  a  revision,  and  Cardinal  Quig- 
nonez,  a  Spanish  Bishop,  revised  the  Breviary  and  published 
it  under  the  sanction  of  Pope  Clement  VII  in  1536,  but  this 
was  suppressed  in  1576.4  Similar  then  to  the  work  which 
these  had  done,  or  were  attempting,  was  that  of  the  learned 
committee  appointed  by  the  lawful  authority  of  the  Church 
of  England  in  her  Convocations  in  1543.  It  was  most 
appropriate  that  the  successor  of  Osmund  in  the  see  of 
Salisbury  should  be  made  its  chairman. 

The  service  books  which  the  committee  was  required  to 
"examine,  correct,  reform,  and  castigate"  were  both  many 

1  See  Freeman  I,  38.  2  Blunt,  Ann.  Pr.  Bk.,  p.  xviii. 

8  Luckock,  Studies,  etc.,  p.  xxviii,  and  Maskell,  Mon.  Rit.,  I,  Ixxxvi. 
4  As  late  as  the  year  191 1  another  thorough  revision  of  the  Breviary 
and  Psalms  was  made  by  the  Church  of  Rome. 


ioo  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


and  cumbersome.1  The  following  list  represents  the  chief 
books  in  use  at  the  time  immediately  preceding  the  Re- 
formation: — 

1.  The  Portiforium,  or  Portuary,  or  Portuisse,  containing 
the  daily  offices  for  the  Seven  Canonical  Hours. 

2.  The  Legenda,  a  book  of  readings  from  Holy  Scripture, 
the  acts  of  saints,  the  sufferings  of  martyrs,  discourses  of 
Fathers  and  Popes,  etc. 

3.  The  Antiphonarium,  containing  the  antiphons,  or 
anthems,  for  the  Canonical  Hours. 

4.  The  Graduale,  containing  the  antiphons  for  High 
Mass,  so  called  from  short  phrases  after  the  Epistle  sung 
"in  gradibus" 

5.  The  Psalterium,  or  Psalter,  divided  into  certain  portions 
for  the  service  of  the  Hours. 

6.  The  Troperium,  containing  certain  verses  sung  before 
or  after  the  Introit. 

7.  The  Ordinale,  Pica,  or  Pie,  a  book  of  rubrics,  which 
regulated  the  whole  manner  and  ritual  of  the  services,  and 
which  had  become  so  complicated  that  the  revisers  said 
that  "many  times  there  was  more  business  to  find  out  what 
should  be  read,  than  to  read  it  when  it  was  found  out."  2 

8.  The  Sacramentary  contained  the  prayers  relating  to 
the  Sacraments,  including  in  that  term  Holy  Orders,  Mar- 

1  Maskell  in  his  Monumenta  Ritualia,  Vol.  I,  pp.  cxciv-vi,  gives  a  list 
of  more  than  one  hundred  different  books  used  more  or  less  in  the  service 
of  the  Church. 

2  Preface,  Concerning  the  Service  of  the  Churchy  in  the  present  English 
Prayer  Book.  The  letters  of  the  Pica  being  smaller  than  the  usual  text, 
the  early  printers  gave  the  name  to  a  medium  size  of  type.  The  initial 
letters  were  in  red,  hence  the  word  rubric,  from  the  Latin  ruber,  red.  From 
the  confused  appearance  of  a  page  of  pica  it  is  thought  that  the  custom 
originated  among  printers  of  calling  any  portion  of  type  which  is  in  utter 
disorder  by  the  name  of  "pie." 


THE  FIRST  REFORMED  BOOK 


riage,  etc.,  in  addition  to  Holy  Baptism  and  the  Holy 
Eucharist. 

9.  The  Missal,  which  contained  only  the  service  for  the 
Holy  Eucharist,  without  the  Introits,  Epistles,  or  Gospels, 
though  sometimes  these  were  also  included. 

10.  The  Manual  was  a  book  of  occasional  offices,  such  as 
Visitation  of  the  Sick,  Churching  of  Women,  Burial  of  the 
Dead,  etc. 

11.  The  Pontifical  was  a  book  of  offices  for  the  use  of 
Bishops,  containing  services  for  Confirmation,  Ordination, 
etc.1 

Few  copies  of  these  books  remain,  inasmuch  as  the  statute 
of  1549  ordered  their  destruction.  Many  were  of  course 
written  by  hand,  as  Gutenberg's  invention  of  movable  types 
(of  wood)  did  not  take  place  before  1438,  and  it  was  not  until 
1471  that  Caxton  set  up  his  press  in  London.  But  whether 
written  or  printed,  most  of  these  service  books  were  de- 
stroyed, or  had  the  name  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome  erased 
from  them  during  the  reign  of  Henry  or  Edward. 

The  following  books  may  be  taken  as  fairly  representing 
the  books  which  the  committee  of  Convocation  had  before 
them  as  the  materials  for  their  work  of  revision: —  (1)  The 
Salisbury  Portiforium,  Missal,  Manual,  Pontifical;  (2)  The 
Diocesan  Uses  of  York,  Hereford,  Bangor,  Lincoln,  etc.; 
(3)  The  reformed  Breviary  of  Cardinal  Quignonez  (1535— 
I53Q;  (4)  The  Consultation  of  Hermann,  Archbishop  of 
Cologne  (1545);  (5)  The  Prymer,  a  book  of  private  devo- 
tions, generally  in  English,  containing  (about  a.d.  1400) 
Matins,  Evensong,  and  Compline  (the  last  of  the  Seven  Ca- 
nonical Hours),  the  seven  Penitential  Psalms,  the  Gradual 
Psalms  (cxx-cxxxiv),  the  Litany,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  the 

1  For  an  interesting  account  of  the  contents  of  these  books  see  P.  and  F. 
New  His.  etc.,  pp.  15-20. 


io2    PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


Creed,  the  Commandments,  etc.;  (6)  The  "Great  Bible," 
the  translation  of  Bishop  Coverdale,  which  had  been  revised 
in  1539  under  the  direction  of  Archbishop  Cranmer,  and 
became  the  foundation  of  the  "Authorized  Version"  in  pre- 
sent use;  the  Prayer  Book  Psalter  being  that  of  the  "Great 
Bible"  practically  unchanged. 

The  committee  continued  their  deliberations  for  six  years. 
In  the  meantime  Henry  had  died  (Jan.  28,  1547),  and  young 
Edward,  his  son,  a  mere  boy,  was  on  the  throne,  with  his 
uncle,  the  Duke  of  Somerset,  as  "  Protector."  Next  year  a 
service  in  English  for  the  reception  (not  consecration)  of  the 
Holy  Communion  by  the  people  was  adopted,  but  this  did 
not  set  aside  the  first  part  of  the  service,  which  remained  still 
in  Latin.  In  1549  the  committee  reported  to  Convocation 
the  result  of  their  labors  in  the  all-English  volume  which  is 
known  as  "the  First  Prayer  Book  of  Edward  VI,"  and  it  was 
adopted  by  them.  Parliament,  which  was  then,  and  had 
been  from  earliest  days,  the  House  of  Laymen,  or  Lay  Depu- 
ties, every  member  being  of  necessity  in  communion  with  the 
Church,  gave  its  approval  also,  and  the  book  was  published 
under  the  title  "The  Book  of  Common  Prayer  and  Adminis- 
tration of  the  Sacramentes,  and  other  Rites  and  Ceremonies 
of  the  Churche;  after  the  use  of  the  Churche  of  England." 

The  book  came  into  use  on  Whitsunday,  June  9th,  1549. 
It  possessed  the  full  authority  of  the  Church  as  declared  by 
the  Bishops  and  representative  Clergy  in  Convocation,  and 
her  representative  Laymen  in  Parliament.1  No  other  Prayer 

1  That  the  First  Book  of  Edward  had  the  sanction  of  both  Convocations 
is  proved  beyond  a  doubt  by  two  letters  of  the  king.  See  P.  and  F.,  50,  51. 
Even  the  parliamentary  Act  which  substituted  the  Book  of  1552  declared 
that  the  First  Book  contained  nothing  "but  what  was  agreeable  to  the 
Word  of  God  and  the  Primitive  Church,"  and  that  such  objections  as  had 
been  made  to  it  proceeded  "  rather  from  the  curiosity  of  the  ministers  and 
mistakers  than  of  any  worthy  cause." 


THE  FIRST  REFORMED  BOOK  103 


Book  had  that  joint  sanction  until  one  hundred  and  twelve 
years  later  (1662),  when  the  book  in  present  use  in  the 
Church  of  England  was  approved  in  a  similar  manner.  The 
book  was  adopted  also  by  the  Convocation  of  the  Church  of 
Ireland  in  155 1,  but  most  unfortunately  no  attempt  was 
made  at  the  time  to  translate  the  service  into  either  Welsh 
or  Irish.  Thus  the  native  Irish  fell  under  the  influence  of 
Roman  priests  whom  the  Pope  sent  into  the  country,  and  the 
Welsh  fell  away  into  dissent  of  various  kinds.1 
The  contents  of  this  first  revised  book  were  as  follows:  — 

1.  The  Preface,  with  a  few  verbal  changes,  the  same  as 
"Concerning  the  Services  of  the  Church"  in  the  present 
English  Book.  2.  The  Order  for  the  Psalter.  3.  The  Order 
for  the  Rest  of  Holy  Scripture.  4.  The  Calendar.  5.  Mat- 
ins and  Evensong,  substantially  as  in  the  present  Book,  but 
beginning  with  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  ending  with  the  Third 
Collect,  with  the  provision  that  on  the  six  greatest  festivals, 
of  which  Epiphany  is  one,  the  Creed  of  S.  Athanasius  be  sub- 
stituted for  that  of  the  Apostles  at  Matins.  6.  The  Introits 
(selected  Psalms),  and  the  same  Collects,  Epistles,  and 
Gospels,  as  in  the  present  Book,  but  taken  from  the  "Great 
Bible."  7.  The  Office  for  the  Holy  Communion.  8.  The 
Litany.  9.  Baptism,  Public  and  Private.  10.  Confir- 
mation. 11.  Matrimony.  12.  Visitation,  Anointing,  and 
Communion  of  the  Sick.  13.  Burial.  14.  The  Churching 
or  Purification  of  Women.  15.  A  Commination,  or  Prayers 
to  be  used  on  Ash-Wednesday.  16.  A  Declaration  con- 
cerning excessive  Ceremonies  (now  placed  at  the  beginning 
of  the  English  Book).  17.  Directions  in  regard  to  the  use 
of  surplice,  albe,  vestment  (chasuble),  rochette,  cope,  hood, 
etc.    18.  The  Ordinal. 

1  There  was  no  Welsh  translation  until  1657,  and  no  Irish  until  1608  when 
one  was  made  by  O'Donnell,  Archbishop  of  Tuam.  As  there  was  no  Irish 
printing  press,  and  few  could  read  the  Irish  letters,  the  Irish  Parliament  of 
1560  adopted  the  expedient  of  authorizing  the  use  of  a  Latin  translation 
of  the  Book  of  1559.    See  P.  and  F.,  pp.  107,  108,  143. 


io4   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


In  the  previous  year  (1548)  it  had  been  ordered  that  the 
Laity  should  receive  the  Communion  in  both  kinds,  in  accord- 
ance with  Christ's  ordinance,  and  with  the  universal  custom 
of  the  Church  up  to  the  year  141 5,  when  it  was  first  forbid- 
den to  give  the  cup  to  the  people  by  the  Council  of  Florence. 
Concerning  this  restoration  of  the  cup  Palmer  writes:  — 

"In  all  the  Eastern  Churches  the  sacrament  has  been  given 
to  the  laity  in  both  kinds,  even  to  the  present  day.  It  is 
true  that  they  are  not  given  it  separately,  but  at  the  same 
moment,  by  means  of  a  particle  of  bread  dipped  in  the  cup; 
but  this  is  merely  a  variety  of  discipline,  which  does  not  in 
the  slightest  degree  affect  the  verity  of  the  Communion  in 
both  kinds.  The  same  custom  formerly  prevailed  all  through 
the  Western  Churches,  but  in  later  times  the  laity  were  in 
most  places  entirely  deprived  of  the  sacrament  of  Christ's 
Blood;  in  order  to  obviate  inconveniences  which  some  per- 
sons thought  might  follow  from  an  obedience  to  Christ's 
commands,  and  the  practice  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

"It  was  not  remembered  that  God  could  prevent  His 
sacraments  from  real  profanation;  and  that  proper  instruc- 
tion might  suffice,  as  it  had  done  in  primitive  times,  to  teach 
the  people  their  duty." 

Another  most  notable  feature  of  the  First  Book  was  the 
restoration  of  the  Invocation,  or  Epiclesis,  that  is,  the  prayer 
for  the  Holy  Ghost  upon  the  elements,  which  was,  and  still 
is,  lacking  in  the  Roman  office,  but  is  part  of  every  other 
known  liturgy  in  the  world.  This  was  happily  restored  to 
the  Scottish  Book  in  1637,  and  to  that  of  America  in  1789. 

The  complete  order  for  the  Holy  Communion  in  the  First 
Book  was  as  follows :  — 

1.  The  Lord's  Prayer,  and  the  Collect  as  at  present.  2. 
A  Psalm  as  Introit,  followed  by  the  threefold  Kyrie  (Lord, 

1  Orig.  Lit.,  II,  iv,  20.  See  also  Bingham,  Ant.  XV,  v,  1,  2,  6.  Our 
Lord  seems  to  have  had  this  very  error  in  view  when  He  said  "Drink  ye 
all"  though  He  did  not  say  "Eat  ye  all." 


THE  FIRST  REFORMED  BOOK  105 


have  mercy.  Christ,  have  mercy.  Lord  have  mercy,  etc.). 
3.  The  Gloria  in  Excelsis.  4.  Collect  for  the  day,  and 
another  for  the  King.  5.  Epistle  and  Gospel.  6.  The 
Nicene  Creed.  7.  Sermon.  8.  The  Exhortation  to  Com- 
munion, unless  an  exhortation  has  already  been  given  in  the 
Sermon.  9.  The  Offertory,  with  the  oblation  of  Bread,  and 
Wine,  "putting  thereto  a  little  pure  and  clean  water.,,  10. 
Sursum  Corda  ("Lift  up,  etc."),  with  Proper  Preface.  II. 
Sanctus.  12.  Prayer  for  the  Whole  State  of  Christ's  Church, 
substantially  as  in  present  Prayer  Book,  but  with  com- 
memoration of  all  the  saints,  "and  chiefly  the  glorious  and 
most  blessed  Virgin  Mary,"  and  commendation  of  "all  other 
Thy  servants,  which  are  departed  hence  from  us  with  the 
sign  of  faith,  and  now  do  rest  in  the  sleep  of  peace."  13. 
The  Prayer  of  Consecration,  as  follows:  —  O  God,  heavenly 
Father,  which  of  Thy  tender  mercy  diddest  give  Thine 
Only  Son  Jesu  Christ  to  suffer  death,  etc.  .  .  .  until  His 
coming  again"  [as  in  the  present  Book]:  "Hear  us,  O 
merciful  Father,  we  beseech  Thee;  and  with  Thy  Holy 
Spirit  and  Word  vouchsafe  to  bless  and  sanctify  these 
Thy  creatures  of  Bread  and  Wine,  that  they  may  be  unto 
us  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Thy  most  dearly  beloved  Son 
Jesus  Christ:  Who,  in  the  same  night  that  He  was  betrayed, 
etc.  .  .  .  drink  it  in  remembrance  of  Me"  [as  in  present 
Book]. 

"Wherefore,  O  Lord  and  heavenly  Father,  according  to 
the  institution  of  Thy  dearly  beloved  Son  our  Saviour  Jesu 
Christ,  we  Thy  humble  servants  do  celebrate  and  make  here 
before  Thy  divine  Majesty,  with  these  Thy  holy  gifts,  the 
memorial  which  Thy  Son  hath  willed  us  to  make:  having  in 
remembrance  His  blessed  Passion,  mighty  Resurrection,  and 
glorious  Ascension:  rendering  unto  Thee  most  hearty  thanks 
for  the  innumerable  benefits  procured  unto  us  by  the  same; 
entirely  desiring  Thy  fatherly  goodness  mercifully  to  accept 
this  our  Sacrifice  of  praise  and  thanksgiving;  most  humbly 
beseeching  Thee  to  grant,  that  by  the  Merits  and  Death  of 
Thy  Son  Jesus  Christ,  and  through  faith  in  His  Blood,  we 
and  all  Thy  whole  Church  may  obtain  remission  of  our  sins, 
and  all  other  benefits  of  His  Passion.    And  here  we  offer 


io6   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


and  present  unto  Thee,  O  Lord,  ourselves,  our  souls  and  bodies, 
to  be  a  reasonable,  holy,  and  lively  sacrifice  unto  Thee; 
humbly  beseeching  Thee,  that  whosoever  shall  be  partakers 
of  this  Holy  Communion  may  worthily  receive  the  most 
precious  Body  and  Blood  of  Thy  Son  Jesus  Christ;  and  be 
fulfilled  with  Thy  grace  and  heavenly  benediction,  and  made 
one  body  with  Thy  Son  Jesu  Christ,  that  He  may  dwell  in 
them,  and  they  in  Him.  And  though  we  be  unworthy 
(through  our  manifold  sins)  to  offer  unto  Thee  any  Sacrifice, 
yet  we  beseech  Thee  to  accept  this  our  bounden  duty  and 
service,  and  command  these  our  prayers  and  supplications, 
by  the  ministry  of  Thy  holy  Angels,  to  be  brought  up  into 
Thy  holy  Tabernacle  before  the  sight  of  Thy  divine  Majesty; 
not  weighing  our  merits,  but  pardoning  our  offences,  through 
Christ  our  Lord;  by  whom  and  with  whom,  in  the  unity  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  all  honour  and  glory  be  unto  Thee,  O  Father 
Almighty,  world  without  end.  Amen. 
Let  us  pray. 

As  our  Saviour  Christ  hath  commanded  and  taught  us, 
we  are  bold  to  say:  Our  Father,  etc. 

Then  shall  the  Priest  say, 

The  peace  of  the  Lord  be  alway  with  you. 

The  Clerks.   And  with  thy  spirit. 

The  Priest.  Christ  our  Paschal  Lamb  is  offered  up  for  us 
once  for  all,  when  He  bare  our  sins  on  His  Body  on  the  Cross; 
for  He  is  the  very  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sins  of 
the  world:  wherefore  let  us  keep  a  joyful  and  holy  feast 
with  the  Lord." 

14.  "You  that  do  truly,  etc.,"  followed  by  Confession, 
Absolution,  and  Comfortable  Words,  as  in  the  present  Book. 
15.  Prayer  of  Humble  Access.  16.  Communion,  with  the 
words  of  administration  as  in  the  first  half  of  the  present 
form,  while  the  Clerks  sing  "O  Lamb  of  God,  etc."  (as  in  the 
Gloria  in  Excelsis),  and  one  of  a  selection  of  verses  from 
Holy  Scripture.  17.  The  prayer  of  Thanksgiving  (the  same 
as  the  second  post-Communion  prayer  in  the  English  office). 
18.  The  Blessing,  as  in  the  present  Book.1 


For  the  vestments  of  the  Celebrant  see  chap,  xxvii. 


THE  FIRST  REFORMED  BOOK 


It  is  of  this  Book  of  1549  it  has  been  said  that  it  is  "the 
noblest  monument  of  piety,  of  prudence,  and  of  learning 
which  the  sixteenth  century  constructed"  (Hardwick).  It 
was  the  ancient  service  to  which  people  had  been  accustomed, 
purified,  simplified,  and  "clothed  in  English,  the  beauty  of 
which  has  been  rarely  equalled,  and  never  surpassed,  even 
in  the  best  age  of  literary  excellence."  So  clear  were  the 
Revisers  on  this  point  that  Archbishop  Cranmer,  with  some 
exaggeration,  offered  to  prove  that  "the  order  of  the  Church 
of  England,  set  out  by  authority  of  Edward  VI,  was  the  same 
that  had  been  used  in  the  Church  for  fifteen  hundred  years 
past."  "Their  aim,"  it  has  been  said,  "was  restoration,  not 
a  complete  revolution  in  Church  worship;  and  in  the  process 
of  attaining  it  they  exercised  the  most  careful  discrimination 
between  the  old  and  the  new,  and  while  cutting  away  without 
hesitation  the  later  overgrowths,  preserved  with  scrupulous 
care  the  ancient  landmarks." 

Thus  four  objects  in  addition  to  the  removal  of  erroneous 
teaching,  were  distinctly  kept  in  view  throughout:  First. 
That  the  whole  of  the  services  should  be  in  the  vernacular, 
"the  tongue  understanded  of  the  people,"  in  accordance 
alike  with  common  sense  and  the  teaching  of  Holy  Scripture. 
Second.  To  bring  order  out  of  the  utter  confusion  of  many 
rubrics  and  many  books,  so  that  one  book  only,  together  with 
the  Bible,  should  be  sufficient  for  clergy  as  well  as  for  wor- 
shippers. Third.  That  the  reading  of  Holy  Scripture  should 
have  much  larger  place.  Fourth.  That,  "where  heretofore 
there  hath  been  great  diversity  in  saying  and  singing  in 
churches  within  this  Realm:  some  following  Salisbury  use, 
some  Hereford  use,  some  the  use  of  Bangor,  some  of  York, 
and  some  of  Lincoln:  now  from  henceforth,  all  the  whole 
Realm  shall  have  but  one  use." 

Thus  gradually,  by  action  of  the  Church  herself,  through 


io8   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


her  lawful  clerical  and  lay  deputies,  in  Convocation  and 
Parliament  (and  not  by  any  foreign  or  secular  power),  in 
continual  revisions  through  more  than  a  century,  the  ancient 
offices  of  Christian  worship  were  adapted  to  new  conditions 
of  race,  and  land,  and  times.  In  this  the  Church  was  only 
fulfilling  our  Lord's  precept:  "Every  scribe  which  is  in- 
structed unto  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  a  man 
that  is  an  householder,  which  bringeth  forth  out  of  his 
treasures  things  new  and  old."  1  Thus  step  by  step  came  the 
Book  of  Common  Prayer  which,  during  the  next  hundred 
years,  after  various  reactions  and  restorations,  assumed 
practically  the  form  in  which  we  have  it  today. 

1  S.  Matt,  xiii,  52. 


CHAPTER  XI 


Reaction  and  Restoration,  i 552-1662 

"Poor  wanderers,  ye  are  sore  distrest 
To  find  that  path  which  Christ  has  blest. 

Tracked  by  His  saintly  throng; 
Each  claims  to  trust  his  own  weak  willy 
Blind  idol!  —  so  ye  languish  still, 
All  wranglers,  and  all  wrong. 

"Wanderers!  come  home!  when  erring  most 
Christ's  Church  aye  kept  the  faith,  nor  lost 

One  grain  of  Holy  Truth: 
She  ne'er  has  erred  as  those  ye  trust, 
And  now  shall  lift  her  from  the  dust, 

And  reign  as  in  her  youth."  —  Lyra  Apostolica. 

IN  spite  of  the  confessed  beauty,  conservatism,  and  true 
Catholicity  of  the  first  Prayer  Book,  and  the  great  learn- 
ing and  patient  labor  bestowed  upon  its  production  through 
six  years,  there  was  a  small  but  vigorous  party  growing  up 
in  England  which  favored  more  radical  changes.  This 
movement  was  fostered  by  the  "Protector"  Somerset,  uncle 
of  the  boy  king,  and  the  other  men  in  power  in  the  State.  It 
was  by  their  means  chiefly  that  the  First  Book  was  displaced 
within  three  years,  and  another  produced  and  forced  on  the 
unwilling  Church  in  1552.  It  is  important  to  remember  that 
this  Second  Book  was  never  submitted  to  the  Convocation 
of  Bishops  and  representative  Clergy.  It  was  drawn  up  by 
a  few  Bishops  and  clergy  appointed  by  the  Council  of  State, 
and  only  possessed  the  authority  of  a  Parliament  which  had 
been  carefully  packed  for  the  purpose.     "The  Church," 


no  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


writes  Canon  Dixon,  "was  held  dumb  throughout  this  period, 
by  the  positive  orders  of  the  Council. "  1 

The  Church  therefore  was  in  no  way  responsible  for  this 
Second  Book.  The  changes  from  the  First  Book  were  due 
almost  wholly  to  the  meddling  interference  of  foreigners  such 
as  Calvin  (by  letters),  Peter  Martyr,  who  had  been  made 
Regius  Professor  of  Divinity  in  Oxford,  Martin  Bucer,  who 
occupied  the  similar  chair  in  Cambridge,  and  others  who 
sought  asylum  in  England,  and  were  infected  with  the  ex- 
treme Protestantism  of  Germany  and  France.  Admitted 
only  as  "lodgers,"  it  has  been  said,  "they  attempted  to  turn 
the  landlord  out  of  his  house.,,  2  Somerset  and  the  members 
of  the  Council  were  in  thorough  sympathy  with  these  views, 
but  the  value  of  the  Protector's  opinions  may  be  gathered 
from  the  fact  that  he  "desired  to  pull  down  Westminster 
Abbey  and  use  the  materials  for  building  a  palace  for  himself, 
and  was  only  bought  off  by  the  Dean  and  Chapter  by  the 
surrender  of  twenty  manors.  Then,  for  the  construction  of 
Somerset  House  he  destroyed  the  church  of  S.  Mary-Ie- 
Strand,  and  the  cloister  of  S.  Paul's  Cathedral."3  He  also 
"destroyed  the  palaces  of  three  Bishops  (Llandaff,  Chester, 
and  Worcester),  in  the  Strand;  attempted  to  demolish  S. 
Margaret's,  but  his  workmen  were  beaten  off  by  the 
parishioners,"  all  to  provide  building  materials  for  his  new 
palace.4  It  was  at  this  same  time,  namely,  "in  the  autumn 
and  winter  of  1552-3,"  writes  Mr.  Froude,  "that  no  less 
than  four  commissions  were  appointed  with  this  one  object; 
to  go  over  the  oft-trodden  ground,  and  share  the  last  spoils 
which  could  be  gathered  from  the  churches.  .  .  .  The  halls 

1  History  of  the  English  Churchy  iii.  5;  iv,  73. 

2  Archdeacon  Denison. 

3  S.  Baring-Gould,  The  Church  Revival,  p.  5. 

4  W.  Sinclair,  Memorials  of  S.  Paul's  Cathedral,  p.  141. 


REACTION  AND  RESTORATION  in 

of  country  houses  were  hung  with  altar-cloths;  tables  and 
beds  were  quilted  with  copes;  knights  and  squires  drank 
their  claret  out  of  chalices,  and  watered  their  horses  in 
marble  cofIins.,,  1  Some  of  the  treasures  of  S.  Paul's  Cathe- 
dral are  still  to  be  seen  in  Spain.2 

It  was  then  under  these  circumstances,  and  under  these 
adverse  influences  that  the  Second  Prayer  Book  was  produced 
in  1552.  "This  Second  Book,  which  was  the  First  Book 
revised,  defaced,  and  generally  maltreated, "  wrote  Dr. 
Morgan  Dix,  "was  put  forth  in  the  vain  hope  of  conciliating 
certain  radicals  and  ultra-reformers  in  England,  whom 
nothing  would  have  satisfied  but  the  extirpation  of  the  whole 
Catholic  system;  and  certain  foreigners,  who,  having  re- 
jected the  Episcopate  and  the  Catholic  traditions,  were 
founding  new  churches  on  an  independent  basis,  and  in- 
augurating presbyteral  and  congregational  disciplines,  with 
inordinate  boasts  of  their  value  and  purity." 3  Even 
Bullinger  could  say  of  the  Second  Book,  writing  to  some 
exiles  in  Frankfort,  that  "Cranmer,  Bishop  of  Canterbury, 
had  drawn  up  a  Book  of  Prayer  [the  First]  a  hundred  times 
more  perfect  than  this  that  we  now  have."  4 

The  worst  alterations  were  those  made  in  the  service  for 
Holy  Communion.  Besides  verbal  changes  in  various  places 
the  chief  alterations  are  as  follows :  — 

1.  The  Invocation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  the  elements 
(the  Epiclesis),  which  was  in  every  known  liturgy  in  the 
world,  except  the  Roman,  and  mediaeval  and  present  English, 
was  omitted  from  the  Prayer  of  Consecration.5 

1  Froude,  History,  V,  458.       2  Ford's  Handbook  of  Spain,  I,  440;  II,  959. 

8  Intro,  to  Reprint  of  the  First  Pr.  Bk.,  New  York,  1881. 

4  Gasquet  and  Bishop,  Edward  VI  and  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  p.  287. 

6  The  substitute  in  the  Roman  liturgy  makes  no  reference  to  the  Holy 
Spirit,  but  prays  that  "Almighty  God  may  command  that  these  [obla- 
tions] may  be  borne  by  the  hands  of  Thy  holy  angel  to  Thy  highest  altar 


ii2   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP     THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


2.  The  Consecration  Prayer  was  reduced  almost  to  the 
bare  recital  of  the  words  of  Institution,  here  again,  strange 
to  say,  virtually  adopting  the  Roman  theory  that  a  valid 
consecration  consists  chiefly,  if  not  wholly,  in  the  words 
"This  is  My  Body  .  .  .  This  is  My  Blood."  The  first  por- 
tion of  the  prayer  in  the  First  Book,  the  intercession  for  the 
whole  state  of  Christ  Church,  was  put  in  an  earlier  place, 
and  the  last  portion  containing  the  solemn  oblation,  mangled 
by  the  omission  of  the  beautiful  opening  words,  "Wherefore 
O  Lord  and  Heavenly  Father,"  was  made  a  separate  prayer  to 
be  used  after  the  Communion. 

3.  The  Prayer  of  Humble  Access,  "We  do  not  presume," 
which  was  fitly  placed,  as  in  all  ancient  liturgies,  immedi- 
ately before  the  reception,  was  now  put  before  the  Conse- 
cration,1 as  were  also,  with  better  reason,  the  Confession  and 
Absolution. 

4.  The  first  words  of  administration  of  the  Sacrament,  as 
in  the  present  book,  were  omitted  entirely,  and  the  latter 
words,  "Take  and  eat,"  etc.,  "Drink  this,"  etc.,  were  put  in 
their  place,  without  any  mention  whatever  of  the  sacred 
Body  and  Blood  of  our  Lord. 

5.  The  word  "altar"  was  entirely  expunged,  and  "table" 
substituted.2 

in  sight  of  Thy  Divine  Majesty."  Concerning  this  Duchesne  writes:  "This 
prayer  is  far  from  exhibiting  the  precision  of  the  Greek  formularies,  in 
which  there  is  a  specific  mention  of  the  grace  prayed  for,  that  is,  the  inter- 
vention of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  effect  the  transformation  of  the  bread  and 
wine  into  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Jesus  Christ,"  p.  181. 

1  The  restoration  of  this  prayer  to  its  original  place  was  adopted  by 
both  houses  of  the  General  Convention  of  the  American  Church  in  1889, 
and  by  the  House  of  Bishops  in  1892,  but  failed  to  get  final  approval  in 
that  year,  by  the  lack  of  only  one  vote  of  the  House  of  Clerical  and  Lay 
Deputies  in  Committee  of  the  Whole. 

2  For  the  Scripture  and  primitive  use  of  the  word  "altar"  see  chap,  v, 
pp.  40,  45. 


REACTION  AND  RESTORATION  113 

6.  The  Introit  Psalm  before  the  Collect  for  the  day,  the 
Agnus  Dei  ("O  Lamb  of  God,  etc."),  and  other  appropriate 
sentences  of  Holy  Scripture  to  be  sung  while  the  people  were 
communicating,  were  omitted. 

7.  The  Gloria  in  Excelsis  was  moved  from  its  ancient  place 
at  the  beginning  of  the  office  to  its  present  possibly  more 
appropriate  place  at  the  end. 

8.  The  words  of  Holy  Scripture,  "Hosanna  in  the  High- 
est, Blessed  is  He  that  cometh  in  the  Name  of  the  Lord," 
were  expunged  from  their  ancient  place  in  the  Sanctus.1 

This  Second  Book  had  happily  a  brief  existence.  Edward 
died  July  6th,  1553,  and  all  England,  which  was  still  at  heart 
Catholic,  though  not  Roman,  welcomed  Mary  the  elder  daugh- 
ter of  Henry.  In  1554  the  old  Latin  service  was  restored,  but 
in  spite  of  early  promises  of  tolerance,  bitter  persecution  of 
those  holding  to  the  need  of  reformation  in  the  Church  fol- 
lowed, and  this  alone  did  more  than  anything  else  to  make 
Englishmen  for  ever  opposed  to  everything  Roman.  Happily 
Mary  also  died  after  a  brief  reign  on  November  17,  1558, 
and  her  sister,  Elizabeth,  was  crowned  according  to  the  old 
unreformed  service.  A  commission,  however,  was  at  once 
named  to  examine  both  the  Books  of  Edward  VI. 

Their  work  was  a  very  difficult  one.  "The  Marian  Bishops 
were  uncompromising  in  their  desire  to  maintain  things  as 
they  were,  and  the  Protestant  divines  were  for  the  most  part 

1  While  it  is  true  that  the  general  character  of  the  changes  in  the  Second 
Book  were  bad,  some  things  were  added  which  were  far  from  being  of  the 
Puritan  order.  Such  are  the  Absolution  that  speaks  of  "power  and  com- 
mandment" given  to  the  Priests  "to  declare  and  pronounce  Absolution 
and  Remission  of  Sins"  introduced  into  Matins  and  Evensong;  the  declara- 
tion as  to  the  regeneration  of  infants  in  the  Baptismal  Service;  the  reten- 
tion of  the  sign  of  the  cross  in  Baptism,  and  of  kneeling  at  Holy  Communion. 
But  these  things  could  not  counterbalance  the  evil  wrought  by  the  maltreat- 
ment of  the  Eucharistic  Office. 


ii4   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


hot  Zwinglians.  They  had  passed  beyond  Luther,  and  even 
Calvin  ....  The  Queen  herself  was  opposed  to  both  ex- 
tremes—  and  she  certainly  would  have  preferred  her  brother's 
first  Prayer  Book  to  the  second.  The  result  was  a  compro- 
mise." 1  Many  of  the  objectionable  features  of  the  Second 
Book  were  removed.  The  first  words  of  administration  in  the 
Holy  Communion  were  restored  and  both  parts  of  the  formula 
remain  to  this  day.  But  by  far  the  most  important  change 
was  that  of  the  famous  "Ornaments  Rubric."  "The  ac- 
customed place  of  the  Church,  Chapel,  or  Chancel"  is  sub- 
stituted for  "the  place  where  the  people  may  best  hear," 
and  the  prohibited  vestments,  "alb,  vestment  and  cope" 
are  restored.2 

The  Book  was  used  at  S.  Paul's  Cathedral  on  May  15, 
1559,  and  was  gradually  accepted  by  the  nation.  It  is 
noteworthy  in  this  connection  that  out  of  9,400  clergy  com- 
pelled to  submit  to  the  Roman  obedience  under  Queen  Mary, 
"not  more  than  one  hundred  and  eighty-nine  preferred  to 
resign  their  benefices  rather  than  use  it."3  From  this  time 
forward,  however,  by  the  freedom  accorded  to  the  Puritan 
exiles  returning  from  their  quarrels  in  Frankfort  and  Geneva, 
their  attack  upon  the  Church  and  the  Prayer  Book  was  bitter 
and  unrelenting  for  one  hundred  years  to  come.  On  the  other 
hand,  while  "there  is  good  reason  for  believing  that  in  the 
early  days  of  the  reign,  Pope  Pius  IV  was  prepared  to  recog- 
nize the  Prayer  Book  in  return  for  a  recognition  of  his  own 
supremacy,  the  conflict  with  the  Roman  dissenters  became 
bitter  also,  especially  after  Pius  V  published  his  bull  of  ex- 
communication in  1570."  4 

1  Canon  Bright,  His.  Intr.  to  Pr.  Bk.  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  p.  viii. 

2  See  chap,  xxvii. 

8  Maclear,  Pr.  Bk.  Comm.,  p.  9. 
4  P.  and  F.,  p.  111. 


REACTION  AND  RESTORATION  115 


At  the  Hampton  Court  Conference  in  1604  under  James  I 
a  few  trifling  changes  were  made  in  the  Prayer  Book,  chiefly 
by  way  of  "explanation."  During  the  Commonwealth  under 
Cromwell  and  the  Puritan  Parliament  (1645-1660),  the  use 
of  the  Book,  in  private  as  well  as  in  public,  was  strictly  pro- 
hibited under  severe  penalties  of  fine  and  imprisonment,  and 
a  Presbyterian  "  Directory  for  the  Public  Worship  of  God  in 
the  Three  Kingdoms"  was  established.  And  so,  writes 
Bishop  Jeremy  Taylor,  "The  worship  of  God  was  left  to 
chance,  indeliberation,  and  a  petulant  fancy."  1 

On  the  restoration  of  Charles  II  in  1660  another  conference 
was  held  at  the  palace  of  the  Savoy  in  London  in  the  hope  of 
appeasing  the  opposition  of  the  Puritan  party.  This  con- 
sisted of  twenty-one  Churchmen  and  twenty-one  Presby- 
terians, twelve  of  the  former  being  Bishops,  and  nine  Priests. 
At  the  outset  Sheldon,  Bishop  of  London,  requested  the 
Presbyterians  to  present  a  formal  list  in  writing  of  all  their 
grievances.  The  challenge  was  accepted,  and  they  set  to 
work.  At  the  same  time  they  appointed  Baxter,  the  most 
famous  of  their  number,  to  prepare  for  them  what  they 
deemed  a  better  manual  than  the  Prayer  Book,  and  this  he 
produced  within  two  weeks,  though  it  had  taken  sixteen  hun- 

1  Worksy  v,  235.  To  use  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  in  public  or  in 
private  was  punishable  by  a  fine  of  five  pounds  for  the  first  offence,  ten 
pounds  for  the  second,  and  for  the  third  by  "  one  whole  year's  imprison- 
ment without  bail  or  mainprize."  To  say  or  do  anything  in  opposition  to 
the  Directory  might  be  punished  by  a  fine  of  five  pounds,  or  fifty  pounds, 
at  the  discretion  of  the  magistrate.  The  Westminster  Assembly  (so-called 
from  its  meeting  in  S.  Margaret's  Church,  Westminster)  consisted  of 
ministers  and  laymen  appointed  by  the  Parliament  in  1643  as  a  substitute 
for  the  ancient  Convocation,  and  for  the  definite  purpose  of  carrying  out 
the  provisions  of  the  Scottish  oath,  called  "The  Solemn  League  and  Cove- 
nant," a  deliberate  pledge  to  overturn  the  Church  and  "extirpate  episco- 
pacy." It  was  this  body,  which  continued  in  session  for  six  years,  and 
adopted  the  Directory. 


n6   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


dred  years  to  produce  the  Book  which  they  wanted  to 
displace!1 

The  list  of  objections  was  soon  ready,  and  contained  among 
other  things  the  following:  —  All  responses  in  the  service  to 
be  omitted,  the  Litany  changed  to  "one  solemn  prayer," 
extemporaneous  prayer  to  be  allowed,  the  word  "Minister" 
to  be  substituted  for  "Priest,"  and  "Lord's  Day"  for  "Sun- 
day," one  long  prayer  to  be  substituted  for  Collects,  no 
surplice  to  be  worn,  no  Lent  or  Saint's  day  to  be  observed, 
no  kneeling  at  the  reading  of  the  Commandments,  no  lessons 
to  be  read  from  the  Apocrypha,  the  General  Confession  to 
be  said  by  the  Minister  alone,  no  kneeling  at  the  reception 
of  the  Holy  Communion,  no  sign  of  the  cross  to  be  used  in 
Baptism,  "the  example  of  the  Apostles"  not  to  be  alleged 
for  Confirmation  (as  in  the  last  Collect  but  one  in  that  ser- 
vice), no  ring  to  be  used  in  marriage,  no  reverence  at  the 
Name  of  Jesus,  etc. 

It  is  of  the  authors  of  this  list  and  their  sympathizers  that 
the  revisers  say  in  the  Preface  to  the  English  Book:  —  "Such 
men  are  given  to  change,  and  have  always  discovered  a 
greater  regard  to  their  own  private  fancies  and  interests,  than 
to  that  duty  they  owe  to  the  public."  "Of  the  sundry 
alterations  proposed  to  us,"  they  say,  "we  have  rejected 
all  such  as  were  either  of  dangerous  consequence  (as  secretly 
striking  at  some  established  doctrine,  or  laudable  practice 
of  the  Church  of  England,  or  indeed  of  the  whole  Catholick 
Church  of  Christ),  or  else  of  no  consequence  at  all,  but 
utterly  frivolous  and  vain.  But  such  alterations  as  were 
tendered  to  us,  as  seemed  to  us  as  in  any  degree  requisite  or 
expedient,  we  have  willingly,  and  of  our  own  accord,  assented 
unto." 

1  For  a  most  interesting  description  of  the  members  and  their  work  see 
Luckock,  Studies  in  the  Prayer  Book,  162  sq. 


REACTION  AND  RESTORATION  117 

At  the  meeting  of  Convocation  in  November,  1 661,  the 
committee  was  appointed  which  prepared  the  new  revision 
of  the  Prayer  Book,  and  to  this  body  was  presented  the 
report  of  the  Savoy  Conference.  Much  of  the  work  had  in 
fact  been  accomplished  already,  and  on  the  20th  of  December 
the  Book  "was  adopted  and  subscribed  by  the  Clergy  of 
both  Houses  of  Convocation,  and  of  both  provinces. "  1  In 
April,  1662,  it  received  the  approval  of  Parliament,  as 
representing  the  laity,  being  the  only  Book  which  had 
this  constitutional  approval  of  both  orders  in  the  Church, 
clerical  and  lay,  since  the  adoption  of  the  First  Prayer 
Book  of  1549. 

The  changes  were  not  many.  The  Epistles  and  Gospels 
were  taken  from  the  Authorized  Version  of  161 1.  The  Psalter 
of  the  "Great  Bible"  of  1539,  which  had  endeared  itself  to 
the  people,  was  allowed  to  remain.  Some  occasional  prayers 
were  added.  Two  new  offices  were  composed,  one  for  the 
baptism  of  adults  which,  the  revisers  said,  "by  the  growth  of 
Anabaptism,  through  the  licentiousness  of  the  late  times 
crept  in  amongst  us,  is  now  become  necessary,  and  may  be 
always  useful  for  the  baptizing  of  natives  in  our  plantations, 
and  others  converted  to  the  faith."  The  other  addition, 
namely,  Prayers  for  those  at  Sea,  testifies  also  to  the  colonial 
enterprise  and  growing  power  of  the  nation.  Since  this  time 
the  English  Prayer  Book,  except  as  regards  some  occasional 
offices,  has  remained  unaltered. 

The  Irish  Convocation  (August-November,  1662)  examined 
and  unanimously  approved  the  Prayer  Book,  and  its  use  for 
the  Church  of  Ireland  was  enjoined  by  the  Irish  Parliament 
in  1666,  thus  giving  it  the  sanction  of  the  representative  Irish 
laity,  all  members  being  necessarily  communicants  of  the 
Church,  as  in  England. 

1  Procter  and  Frere,  p.  194. 


n8    PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP     THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


"  The  Prayer  Book  of  1662,"  writes  Mr.  Wakeman, 
"marks  the  close  of  the  long  liturgical  struggle,  just  as  the 
Savoy  Conference  marks  the  close  of  the  long  political 
struggle,  in  which  ecclesiastical  parties  in  England  had  been 
engaged  since  the  Reformation.  By  it,  in  worship,  just  as 
in  doctrine  and  discipline,  the  Church  definitely  refused  to 
break  with  historical  Christianity,  definitely  refused  to  rank 
herself  with  the  Protestant  churches  of  Europe,  reiterated 
and  to  the  best  of  her  power  enforced  her  claim  to  be  the 
Catholic  Church  of  Christ  in  England. 

"The  assertion  of  these  principles  necessarily  involved  the 
ejectment  of  unordained  ministers  from  all  benefices  of 
which  they  held  possession.  It  was  manifestly  impossible 
that  a  Church  which  taught  that  the  power  of  the  priest- 
hood could  be  transmitted  only  by  the  hands  of  a  Bishop, 
could  allow  those  who  had  never  received  Episcopal  or- 
dination still  to  receive  emoluments  of  Church  benefices, 
and  affect  to  administer  the  sacraments.  .  .  .  On  that  day 
(S.  Bartholomew's  Day,  1662)  two  thousand  Independent, 
Baptist,  and  Presbyterian  ministers,  who  were  either  unable 
in  conscience  to  use  the  Prayer  Book  or  were  unwilling  to 
submit  to  Episcopal  ordination,  were  obliged  to  leave  their 
benefices  and  go  forth,  as  the  Clergy  of  the  Church  had 
done  twenty  years  before  to  certain  poverty  and  possible 
persecution."  1 

It  is  of  this  Book,  which  comes  to  us  from  the  Upper 
Room  bearing  the  marks  of  many  conflicts,  and  breathing 
the  spirit  of  martyrs  and  of  saints  through  wellnigh  nineteen 
centuries,  it  has  been  thoughtfully  said:  —  "The  Book  of 
Common  Prayer  has  been  used  by  some  twelve  generations 
of  men  and  women  and  children  in  England;  it  has  been 
carried  into  all  the  colonies  of  English  people  everywhere;  it 

1  The  Church  and  the  Puritans,  pp.  198,  199. 


REACTION  AND  RESTORATION  119 

was  used  on  this  continent  [America]  as  soon  as  the  English 
Churchmen  set  foot  on  it,  and  it  has  been  constantly  used 
in  our  land  since  the  settlement  of  Jamestown  in  1607,  when 
the  Book  (as  revised  in  1559)  was  not  sixty  years  old.  Its 
words  are  on  the  lips  of  Christian  people  all  the  world  over, 
and  its  thoughts  are  in  their  hearts,  and  we  feel  sure  that  it 
will  be  used,  and  that  its  influence  will  extend  as  long  as  there 
shall  be  English-speaking  Christians  on  the  earth."  1 

1  Dr.  S.  Hart,  Book  of  C.  Pr.y  p.  5.  Since  1662  no  change  has  been  made 
in  the  English  Prayer  Book.  An  attempt  at  revision  in  1689,  which  would 
have  toned  down  the  Church's  teaching,  happily  failed.  The  corporate 
action  of  the  Church  was  stifled  by  Crown  and  Parliament  until  1852  when 
the  Convocations  were  permitted  to  meet  again  for  business.  But  even 
thus  the  State  has  so  hampered  the  Church  that  no  effort  to  enrich  her 
services,  and  adapt  them  to  modern  conditions,  has  proved  successful, 
with  the  exception  of  that  for  a  revised  Lectionary,  and  more  freedom  in 
the  use  of  the  Book,  which  was  approved  by  Act  of  Parliament  in  1872. 


CHAPTER  XII 
The  Scottish,  American,  and  Irish  Revisions 


"And  thou,  true  Church  of  Scotland, 
Cast  down,  shalt  not  despair; 
When  dowered  wives  are  barren, 
The  desolate  shall  bear.  .  .  . 

"  When  o'er  the  western  waters 

They  seek  for  crook  and  key, 
The  Lord  shall  make  like  Hannah* s 

Thy  -poor  and  low  degree! 
Thou  o'er  new  worlds  the  sceptre 

Of  Shiloh  shalt  extend, 
And  a  long  line  of  children 

From  thy  sad  breast  descend." 


HIS  seems  a  fitting  place  to  give  some  account  of  the 


JL  later  fortunes  of  the  Church  and  Prayer  Book  in 
Scotland,  the  United  States,  and  Ireland.  The  ecclesiastical 
changes  in  North  Britain  formed  a  marked  contrast  to  those 
in  England.  There  it  was  a  revolution  rather  than  a  refor- 
mation. The  leaders  were  not  learned  Bishops  and  Priests 
acting  with  duly  constituted  authority  in  their  convocations 
or  synods,  but  Priests  of  radical  views  acquired  from  Ger- 
many and  Switzerland,  who  were  determined  to  cut  them- 
selves ofF,  "root  and  branch,"  from  the  ancient  Scottish 
Church  with  its  thousand  years  of  history,  and  therefore  also 
from  other  five  hundred  years  which  connected  it  with  the 
Apostolic  age.  It  was  in  563  that  S.  Columba  with  his  band 
of  missionaries  from  the  north  of  Ireland  landed  on  the  little 
western  island  of  Iona,  called  in  later  ages  I-Columbkill, 
that  is,  the  Island  of  Columba's  Church.  It  was  in  1560 
that  the  lay  Parliament  at  Edinburgh  rejected  the  ancient 


—  Bishop  Coxe,  Christian  Ballads. 


SCOTTISH,  AMERICAN,  IRISH  121 

Divine  government  of  the  Church,  and  its  liturgical  and 
reverent  worship. 

For  political  reasons  the  outer  form  of  episcopacy  was 
retained  for  a  time  in  order  to  secure  the  property  and  in- 
come of  the  Church.  Laymen  were  given  the  title  and  some 
of  the  authority  of  Bishops,  so  that  they  might  draw  the 
revenues  of  the  sees.  "It  was  a  device  of  Highland  farming, 
when  a  cow  had  lost  her  calf,  to  place  the  skin,  stuffed  with 
straw,  before  her  eyes,  to  make  her  yield  her  milk  more 
freely."  1  The  name  given  to  the  make-believe  calf  was 
"tulchan,"  and  so  these  titular  "bishops,"  who  were  used  as 
decoys,  and  only  received  a  mere  fraction  of  the  revenues, 
while  the  Regent  and  the  nobles  were  enriched,  came  to  be 
called  in  contempt  "Tulchans." 

During  the  next  hundred  years,  in  the  reigns  of  James  I 
and  the  two  Charleses,  various  attempts  were  made  to  restore 
the  Apostolic  Ministry,  and  with  it  the  ancient  liturgic  wor- 
ship. In  1633  a  committee  of  Scottish  Bishops,  with  Arch- 
bishop Laud,  and  Bishops  Juxon  and  Wren  as  advisers,  was 
appointed  to  adapt  the  English  Prayer  Book  for  use  in  Scot- 
land, and  in  1637  this  Book,  in  which  much  of  the  Com- 
munion Office  of  the  Book  of  1549  had  been  incorporated,  was 
approved.  The  method  of  its  introduction  into  the  parishes, 
however,  was  unwise  and  unfortunate.  The  people,  either 
in  Assembly  or  in  Parliament,  had  not  been  consulted,  and 
the  Book  was  thrust  upon  them  by  royal  edict,  without  oppor- 
tunity for  clergy  or  laity  to  examine  it  beforehand.  It  was 
not  then  to  be  wondered  at  that  it  was  not  welcomed.  A  new 
bishopric  had  been  established  at  Edinburgh,  and  the  Book 
was  first  used  in  the  Cathedral  of  S.  Giles  in  that  city  on  the 
Seventh  Sunday  after  Trinity,  July  23,  1637.  When  the  Dean 
was  beginning  to  read  the  collect  for  the  day,  "Lord  of  all 

1  Lloyd,  Sketches  of  Church  His.  in  Scotland,  p.  72. 


122  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


power  and  might,"  Jennie  Geddis,  an  old  herb-woman, 
sprang  up  and  flung  her  stool  at  his  head.  The  Bishop  tried 
to  restore  peace,  but  the  scene  ended  in  a  riot,  and  the  riot 
ended  eventually  in  a  revolution  which  once  more  abolished 
Episcopacy  in  Scotland. 

Under  Charles  II  the  ancient  Ministry  and  worship  were 
partially  restored,  but  in  1689,  under  William  of  Orange,  the 
Church  was  again  disestablished  and  deprived  of  her  prop- 
erty, and  Presbyterianism  established  in  her  stead.  Hence- 
forth the  "Catholic  Remainder,"  as  those  were  called  who 
clung  to  the  ancient  Church  of  Scotland,  were  subjected  to 
a  series  of  penal  laws,  and  their  numbers  greatly  diminished. 
This  condition,  however,  was  largely  owing  to  the  mistaken 
notion,  shared  in  with  the  Nonjurors  in  England,  that  Church 
and  King  must  stand  together,  and  that  their  allegiance  was 
due,  not  to  the  new  line  of  the  Georges  from  Hanover,  but 
to  the  Stuarts. 

In  1764  the  Scottish  Bishops  made  a  slight  revision  of  the 
Eucharistic  Office  of  1637,  and  it  was  this  Liturgy  which  Dr. 
Samuel  Seabury,  the  first  American  Bishop,  consecrated  by 
three  Scottish  Bishops  in  the  upper  room  of  a  house  in 
Aberdeen  on  Nov.  14,  1784,  introduced  into  his  Diocese  of 
Connecticut,  and  which  was  adopted  in  substance  by  the 
whole  American  Church  in  1789.1 

Bishop  Seabury,  after  his  consecration  in  1784,  always  used 

1  The  reason  for  this  secret  service  was  the  fact  that  all  persons  more 
than  four  in  number,  besides  the  family,  attending  a  meeting  conducted 
by  an  Episcopal  Clergyman  who  had  not  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance  to 
King  George,  were  subject  to  a  fine  of  five  pounds  for  the  first  offence,  and 
imprisonment  for  two  years  for  the  second.  The  death  in  1788  of  Prince 
Charles  Edward,  the  last  of  the  Stuart  claimants  to  the  throne,  paved  the 
way  for  relief.  In  1792  the  repressive  law  was  repealed,  and  the  Scottish 
Church  had  at  last  restored  to  her  the  full  freedom  of  her  worship.  In 
1797  the  Book  was  translated  into  Gaelic. 


SCOTTISH,  AMERICAN,  IRISH  123 


the  Scottish  Prayer  of  Consecration  in  his  own  Diocese.  In 
a  letter  to  Bishop  White,  dated  June  29,  1789,  in  view  of 
the  General  Convention  of  that  year,  referring  to  the  meagre 
Prayer  in  the  English  Office,  he  wrote:  —  "The  Consecra- 
tion is  made  to  consist  merely  in  the  Priest's  laying  his  hands 
on  the  elements  and  pronouncing  ' This  is  My  body,'  etc., 
which  words  are  not  consecration  at  all,  nor  were  they  ad- 
dressed by  Christ  to  the  Father,  but  were  declarative  to  the 
Apostles.  This  is  so  exactly  symbolizing  with  the  Church  of 
Rome  in  an  error,  an  error,  too,  on  which  the  absurdity  of 
Transubstantiation  is  built,  that  nothing  but  having  fallen 
into  the  same  error  themselves  could  have  prevented  the 
enemies  of  the  Church  from  casting  it  in  her  teeth.  The 
efficacy  of  Baptism,  of  Confirmation,  of  Orders,  is  ascribed 
to  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  His  energy  is  implored  for  that 
purpose;  and  why  He  should  not  be  invoked  in  the  conse- 
cration of  the  Eucharist,  especially  as  all  the  old  Liturgies 
are  full  to  the  point,  I  cannot  conceive."  1 

The  independent  organization  of  the  American  Church 
originated  in  a  meeting  of  "The  Corporation  for  the  Relief 
of  Widows  and  Orphans  of  Clergymen  of  the  Church  of 
England"  in  the  three  Provinces  of  Pennsylvania,  New  York, 
and  New  Jersey,  held  in  New  Brunswick,  N.  J.,  May  11, 
1784.  At  this  meeting  it  was  agreed  to  form  a  "Continental 
representation  of  the  Episcopal  Church,"  which  took  place 
in  the  city  of  New  York  on  October  6  and  7  that  same  year. 
It  was  at  the  next  meeting,  September  27  and  28  in  Phila- 
delphia, consisting  of  sixteen  Clergymen  and  twenty-six 
Laymen,  that  certain  radical  changes  in  the  English  Book, 

1  Journals  of  General  Convention,  edited  by  Bishop  W.  S.  Perry,  III, 
PP-  387*  388.  The  Scottish  Prayer,  with  slight  verbal  alterations,  was 
adopted  by  the  Convention  the  following  September,  and  the  revised 
Book  came  into  use  on  October  I,  1790. 


I24  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


after  hasty  consideration,  were  proposed,  in  addition  to  some 
required  for  political  reasons  which  were  the  only  ones 
adopted.  This  was  the  origin  of  the  so-called  "Proposed 
Book"  published  in  April,  1786,  but  generally  disapproved 
from  the  beginning.1 

This  is  the  account  given  by  Horace  Wemyss  Smith,  great- 
grandson  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  William  Smith,  the  President  of 
the  House  of  Clerical  and  Lay  Deputies  in  1789,  as  to  the  way 
in  which  the  Scottish  Prayer  of  Consecration  was  adopted 
by  the  American  Church.  Bishop  Seabury  of  Connecticut 
and  Bishop  White  of  Pennsylvania  constituted  the  whole 
House  of  Bishops  at  the  time.  They  were  in  favor  of  the 
Scottish  Office,  but  the  Lower  House  was  doubtful.  In  their 
anxiety  they  sent  for  Dr.  Smith,  who  himself  was  a  Scotch- 
man, for  a  private  conference.  "  He  agreed  to  introduce  the 
new  Office  to  the  House  of  Deputies,  and  recommend  it  for 
adoption.  The  next  day  he  informed  the  House  of  the  docu- 
ment entrusted  to  him,  and  of  its  variations  from  the  Office 
of  the  Church  of  England.  A  storm  began  to  brew,  and 
hoarse  whispers  of  popery  reached  his  ears.  He  rose  in  his 
place,  and,  exclaiming  'Hear — (pronouncing  it  Hey  re) 
before  ye  judge/  began  to  read.  Dr.  Smith  was  a  superb 
reader,  and  withal  had  just  enough  of  a  Scotch  brogue  to 
make  his  tones  more  musical  and  his  emphasis  more  thrilling. 
He  soon  caught  attention,  and  read  his  paper  through  with- 
out a  single  interruption,  his  hearers  becoming  more  and 
more  absorbed  and  charmed.  When  he  had  finished,  the 
new  Office  was  accepted  with  acclamations."  2 

1  These  proposed  alterations  will  be  found  in  Bishop  White's  Memoirs, 
pp.  435-447,  ed.  1880,  and  in  Bishop  Perry  Reprint  of  the  Journals  of  Early 
Conventions,  and  his  Handbook  of  the  General  Conventions,  pp.  25-40. 

2  Life  and  Correspondence  of  the  Rev.  William  Smith,  D.D.,  Phila- 
delphia, 1880,  Vol.  II,  pp.  290,  291.    Concerning  these  two  remarkable 


SCOTTISH,  AMERICAN,  IRISH  125 


In  the  Appendix  to  this  chapter  will  be  found  a  comparison 
of  the  three  forms  of  the  Prayer  of  Consecration  of  the  Holy 
Eucharist,  English,  Scottish,  and  American;  also  a  table 
showing  the  genealogy  of  the  four  parent  Liturgies  and  of 
those  of  the  Anglican  Communion.  For  a  comparison  of 
the  Eucharistic  Office  as  a  whole  with  that  of  the  parent 
Liturgies  see  chap,  vi,  p.  68. 

After  the  disestablishment  of  the  Irish  Church  a  revision 
of  the  Prayer  Book,  which  hitherto  had  been  the  same  as 
that  of  the  English  Church  since  1662,  was  accomplished 
in  1877.  Only  a  few  changes  were  made,  none  of  which 
arTected  any  fundamental  doctrine.  Some  canons,  however, 
were  enacted,  among  other  things  requiring  that  the  "Com- 
munion Table"  should  be  movable  and  of  wood,  forbidding 
the  use  of  Eucharistic  lights,  crosses  on  the  altar  or  its 
covering,  incense,  wafer  bread,  the  mixture  of  water  with 
the  wine  in  Holy  Communion,  and  the  carrying  of  crosses 
or  banners  in  processions. 

Among  the  changes  made  in  the  American  Prayer  Book  in 
1789  was  one  of  a  serious  and  unfortunate  character  which 
was  allowed  to  creep  into  the  title  page,  as  it  would  seem, 
without  formal  or  positive  action  on  the  part  of  the  Con- 
vention. The  Church  had  indeed  the  wisdom  to  retain  the 
first  part  of  the  title  of  the  Book,  namely,  "The  Book  of 
Common  Prayer  and  Administration  of  the  Sacraments,  etc. 
of  the  Church,,,  that  is,  of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church  of  all 
ages  and  all  lands.    But  she  was  not  so  wise  in  yielding 

men,  White,  the  friend  of  Washington,  and  Seabury,  whom  God  raised  up 
to  be  the  first  Bishops  of  the  American  Church,  John  Williams,  the  suc- 
cessor of  Seabury,  has  said  in  reference  to  the  results  to  the  Church  of  the 
Convention  of  1789:  "We  are  mainly  indebted,  under  the  overruling  wisdom 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  the  stedfast  gentleness  of  Bishop  White,  and  the 
gentle  stedfastness  of  Bishop  Seabury." 


126  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


to  the  popular  prejudice  of  Puritans  and  Dissenters  against 
the  Church,  when,  without  formal  adoption,  she  allowed 
the  words  "According  to  the  Use  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America"  to  be  placed  there.1 
Nearly  a  century  later,  after  the  disestablishment  and  dis- 
endowment  of  the  Church  of  Ireland,  an  extreme  section  of 
that  Church  urged  a  similar  abandonment  of  her  true  and 
ancient  title  ever  since  the  days  of  her  founder,  S.  Patrick, 
and  to  her  honor  she  rejected  it.  So  far,  in  fact,  from  acced- 
ing to  the  demand  to  call  herself  the  "Protestant  Episcopal 
Church,"  while  reaffirming  her  character  as  "reformed  and 
Protestant,"  she  declared  herself  to  be  "the  Ancient  Catholic 
and  Apostolic  Church  of  Ireland."2  More  recently  the  Arch- 
bishops and  Bishops  of  the  Irish  Church  refused  to  receive 
a  communication  of  State  that  was  sent  to  them  because  it 
was  addressed  to  the  "Protestant  Episcopal"  Bishops,  and 
in  1902  issued  a  declaration  against  "the  increasing  misuse 
of  the  term  Catholic  to  describe  without  any  qualifying 
designation  that  body  of  Christians  only  who  acknowledge 
the  supremacy  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome."  The  Church  of 
England  has  persistently  pursued  the  same  course  through 
all  her  history,  never  having  adopted  the  title  Protestant 
either  in  her  Prayer  Book,  or  by  canon.  When  the  Con- 
vocation in  1689  was  asked  to  adopt  an  address  to  King 
William  III,  thanking  him  for  his  zeal  for  the  Protestant 
religion,  it  refused  "lest,"  as  it  said,  "the  Church  of  Eng- 
land should  suffer  diminution  in  being  joined  with  foreign 

1  The  title  seems  to  have  been  first  used  by  a  meeting  of  Clergy  of  the 
Diocese  of  Maryland  at  Annapolis  in  August,  1783,  but  its  adoption  even 
then  was  a  distinct  usurpation  of  the  legal  name  of  the  Moravians  of  Penn- 
sylvania and  North  Carolina,  who  were  designated  as  a  "Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church"  by  an  Act  of  the  English  Parliament  passed  on  May  12,  1747* 

2  Prayer  Book,  Preamble  and  Declaration. 


SCOTTISH,  AMERICAN,  IRISH  127 


Protestant  churches."  In  all  this  these  two  Churches  have 
been  wiser  than  their  American  sister. 

Among  the  many  objections  urged  against  this  title  are 
the  following:  —  (1)  Protestant  stands  for  controversy, 
contest,  uncharity,  division.  It  is  a  silent  but  eloquent 
testimony  to  this  discredited  signification  of  the  word  that 
not  one  of  the  principal  sects  of  England  or  America  has 
thought  it  desirable  to  incorporate  it  in  its  official  name. 
(2)  Whatever  positive  meaning  may  be  claimed  for  the  word 
as  a  "witness  for"  {testis  pro),  it  is  now,  and  for  a  long  time 
has  been,  used  only  in  a  negative  sense  as  a  "witness  against" 
Edmund  Burke,  himself  an  Irish  Churchman,  said  in  1792, 
"A  man  is  certainly  the  most  perfect  Protestant  who  pro- 
tests against  the  whole  Christian  religion."  In  fact  long 
before  Burke's  day  the  word  had  fallen  into  such  disrepute 
that  an  Irish  Churchman,  writing  in  1714,  speaks  of  "Athe- 
ists, Deists,  Socinians,  Sectarians,  going  under  the  name  of 
Protestants."  1  And  since  Burke's  day  the  word  has  taken 
on  such  new  meaning  in  Germany  that  his  definition  of  "the 
most  perfect  Protestant"  has  found  its  literal  fulfilment  in 
the  last  words  of  Strauss,  the  rationalistic  author  of  a  "Life 
of  Jesus,"  when  he  declared,  "We  are  no  longer  Christians, 
but  still  continue  to  be  Protestants."  It  is  evident  then  that 
the  words  of  Hamlet's  mother,  "The  lady  doth  protest  too 
much,  methinks,"  2  may  have  other  and  wider  applications. 

(3)  Neither  Protestant  nor  Episcopal  (unless  the  latter 
word  be  regarded  as  synonymous  with  Apostolic,  which  it 
is  not)3  is  a  real  definition  of  the  Church,  inasmuch  as  it 
proclaims  only  an  incidental  relation  to  other  religious 
bodies  of  recent  date,  and  is  therefore  itself  denominational 
and  sectarian.   In  other  words  it  classes  the  national  Ameri- 


1  Froude,  The  English  in  Ireland,  I,  331.  2  Act  III,  sc.  2. 

3  See  chap,  xxxvi. 


128  PRIMITVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


can  branch  of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church,  in  the  eyes  of  "the 
man  in  the  street,"  as  merely  one  of  two  hundred  "other 
churches"  which  have,  or  may  have,  an  equal  claim  on  his 
attachment.  The  real  question  is  not,  Is  the  Church  Pro- 
testant against  Roman  claims  and  Romish  doctrine?  That 
she  is  Protestant  in  this  sense,  as  in  many  others,  there  is 
no  doubt  whatever.  The  term  was  justly  applied  to  her  by 
some  of  her  greatest  and  most  Catholic  divines,  from  Laud 
and  Andrewes  to  Cosin  and  Jeremy  Taylor.  But  this  is 
altogether  aside  from  the  propriety  of  making  the  word  an 
essential  part  of  her  official  title,  where  no  incidental  and 
temporary  characteristic  has  any  rightful  place. 

(4)  Again,  the  title  is  unhistorical  and  unscriptural.  For 
the  first  one  hundred  and  eighty-two  years  of  the  Church  in 
America  it  was  known  only  by  its  local  title  "of  England," 
as  the  branches  of  the  Church  were  known  in  Apostolic 
days  —  the  Church  "in  Corinth,"  "in  Philippi,"  "in  Rome," 
"of  Galatia,"  because  the  land  was  then  politically  part  of 
England.  One  cannot  imagine  the  Apostle  S.  John  speaking 
of  "the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  Ephesus,"  or  S. 
John  Chrysostom  being  described  as  a  Bishop  of  "the  Pro- 
testant Episcopal  Church  in  Constantinople,"  though  there 
were  more  evils  to  protest  against  in  their  day  than  in  ours. 

(5)  Finally,  the  name  is  novel  as  well  as  unhistorical. 
It  is  only  since  1789  that  the  words  "Protestant  Episcopal" 
have  been  on  the  title  page.  Bishop  Cleveland  Coxe,  whose 
loyalty  to  what  are  called  "Protestant  principles"  cannot  be 
questioned,  speaking  of  the  condition  of  the  American  Church 
in  1789,  has  said,  "A  much  more  humiliating  token  of  our 
position  at  that  day  was  the  consent  of  even  the  Catholic 
Seabury  to  permit  our  truly  Apostolic  Church  to  be  known, 
even  in  its  external  conditions,  as  'the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America/    I  hold  this,"  he 


SCOTTISH,  AMERICAN,  IRISH  129 

adds,  "to  be  a  jumble  of  words  which  nothing  but  familiarity 
can  render  tolerable  to  an  enlightened  mind.  .  .  .  Nor  can 
any  tribute  be  paid  to  the  Papacy  more  entirely  acceptable, 
than  the  surrender  to  its  followers  of  the  Catholic  name,  its 
prestige,  and  its  logical  force."  1 

Appendix 

The  English  Prayer  of  Consecration  2 

Almighty  God,  our  heavenly  Father,  who  of  Thy  tender 
mercy  didst  give  Thine  only  Son  Jesus  Christ  to  suffer  death 
upon  the  Cross  for  our  redemption;  who  made  there  (by 
His  one  oblation  of  Himself  once  offered)  a  full,  perfect,  and 
sufficient  sacrifice,  oblation,  and  satisfaction,  for  the  sins  of 
the  whole  world;  and  did  institute,  and  in  His  holy  Gospel 
command  us  to  continue,  a  perpetual  memory  of  that  His 
precious  death,  until  His  coming  again;  Hear  us,  O  merciful 
Father,  we  most  humbly  beseech  Thee;  and  grant  that  we 
receiving  these  Thy  creatures  of  bread  and  wine,  according 
to  Thy  Son  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ's  holy  institution,  in 

1  The  remarkable  growth  of  conviction  in  the  American  Church  in 
regard  to  this  question  is  shown  by  the  following  facts:  The  first  definite 
effort  in  behalf  of  restoring  a  Scriptural  and  traditional  title  to  the  Church 
was  made  in  the  House  of  Clerical  and  Lay  Deputies  of  the  General  Con- 
vention which  met  in  Boston  in  1877,  when  a  memorial  and  resolution  from 
the  Diocese  of  Wisconsin  was  presented  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  James  De  Koven, 
Warden  of  Racine  College.  This  proposal  received  only  the  vote  of  two 
clerical  Deputies  of  that  Diocese,  namely,  Dr.  De  Koven,  and  Dr.  Cole, 
and  the  vote  of  one  other  Deputy  from  the  Diocese  of  Alabama.  Not  a 
single  vote  was  cast  for  it  by  any  Lay  Deputy.  In  1910  in  Cincinnati  a 
resolution  was  offered  to  alter  the  title  page  of  the  Prayer  Book  so  as  to 
read,  "The  Book  of  Common  Prayer  and  Administration  of  the  Sacra- 
ments and  other  Rites  and  Ceremonies  of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church  ac- 
cording to  the  Use  of  that  portion  thereof  known  as  The  Episcopal  Church 
in  the  United  States  of  America."  This  resolution  was  adopted  by  a 
majority  of  the  Dioceses  in  the  Clerical  Order,  but  failed  of  passage  by  the 
lack  of  one  vote  in  the  Lay  Order. 

8  The  Prayer  in  the  revised  Irish  Book  is  the  same  as  the  English. 


i3o  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


remembrance  of  His  death  and  passion,  may  be  partakers  of 
His  most  blessed  Body  and  Blood;  who,  in  the  same  night 
that  He  was  betrayed,  took  Bread;  and,  when  He  had  given 
thanks,  He  brake  it,  and  gave  it  to  His  disciples,  saying, 
Take,  eat,  this  is  My  Body  which  is  given  for  you:  Do  this 
in  remembrance  of  Me.  Likewise  after  supper  He  took  the 
Cup;  and,  when  He  had  given  thanks,  He  gave  it  to  them, 
saying,  Drink  ye  all  of  this;  for  this  is  My  Blood  of  the 
New  Testament,  which  is  shed  for  you  and  for  many  for 
the  remission  of  sins:  Do  this,  as  oft  as  ye  shall  drink  it,  in 
remembrance  of  Me.  Amen. 

(It  will  be  observed  that  in  the  English  Invocation  there  is 
no  mention  of  the  Holy  Spirit.) 

The  American  Prayer  of  Consecration 

(In  the  American  Prayer  —  which  is  almost  the  same  as 
the  Scottish  —  italic  type  marks  additions  to,  or  alterations 
from  the  English.  The  portion  beginning,  "And  we  ear- 
nestly desire,"  is  in  substance  the  first  Post-Communion 
Prayer  of  the  English  Book.) 

ALL  glory  be  to  thee,  Almighty  God,  our  heavenly  Father, 
for  that  thou,  of  thy  tender  mercy,  didst  give  thine  only 
Son  Jesus  Christ  to  suffer  death  upon  the  Cross  for  our 
redemption;  who  made  there  (by  his  one  oblation  of  himself 
once  offered)  a  full,  perfect,  and  sufficient  sacrifice,  oblation, 
and  satisfaction,  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world;  and  did 
institute,  and  in  his  holy  Gospel  command  us  to  continue,  a 
perpetual  memory  of  that  his  precious  death  and  sacrifice, 
until  his  coming  again:  For  in  the  night  in  which  he  was 
betrayed,  he  took  Bread;  and  when  he  had  given  thanks, 
he  brake  it,  and  gave  it  to  his  disciples,  saying,  Take,  eat, 
this  is  my  Body,  which  is  given  for  you;  Do  this  in  re- 
membrance of  me.  Likewise,  after  supper,  he  took  the 
Cup;  and  when  he  had  given  thanks,  he  gave  it  to  them, 
saying,  Drink  ye  all  of  this;  for  this  is  my  Blood  of  the 
New  Testament,  which  is  shed  for  you,  and  for  many,  for 
the  remission  of  sins;  Do  this,  as  oft  as  ye  shall  drink  it,  in 
remembrance  of  me. 


SCOTTISH,  AMERICAN,  IRISH  131 

WHEREFORE,  0  Lord  and  heavenly  Father,  according 
to  the  institution  of  thy  dearly  beloved  Son  our  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ,  we,  thy  humble  servants,  do  celebrate  The 
and  make  here  before  thy  Divine  Majesty,  with  Oblation 
these  thy  holy  gifts,  which  we  now  offer  unto  thee,  the  memorial 
thy  Son  hath  commanded  us  to  make;  having  in  remembrance 
his  blessed  passion  and  precious  death,  his  mighty  resurrection 
and  glorious  ascension;  rendering  unto  thee  most  hearty  thanks 
for  the  innumerable  benefits  procured  unto  us  by  the  same. 

AND  we  most  humbly  beseech  thee,  O  merciful  Father, 
to  hear  us;  and,  of  thy  almighty  goodness,  The 
vouchsafe  to  bless  and  sanctify,  with  thy  Word  and  Invocation 
Holy  Spirit,  these  thy  gifts  and  creatures  of  bread  and  wine; 
that  we,  receiving  them  according  to  thy  Son  our  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ's  holy  institution,  in  remembrance  of  his  death 
and  passion,  may  be  partakers  of  his  most  blessed  Body 
and  Blood. 

AND  we  earnestly  desire  thy  fatherly  goodness,  merci- 
fully to  accept  this  our  sacrifice  of  praise  and  thanks- 
giving; most  humbly  beseeching  thee  to  grant  that,  by  the 
merits  and  death  of  thy  Son  Jesus  Christ,  and  through  faith 
in  his  blood,  we,  and  all  thy  whole  Church,  may  obtain  re- 
mission of  our  sins,  and  all  other  benefits  of  his  passion.  And 
here  we  offer  and  present  unto  thee,  O  Lord,  our  selves,  our 
souls  and  bodies,  to  be  a  reasonable,  holy,  and  living  sacrifice 
unto  thee;  humbly  beseeching  thee,  that  we,  and  all  others 
who  shall  be  partakers  of  this  Holy  Communion,  may  worthily 
receive  the  most  precious  Body  and  Blood  of  thy  Son  Jesus 
Christ,  be  filled  with  thy  grace  and  heavenly  benediction, 
and  made  one  body  with  him,  that  he  may  dwell  in  us,  and 
we  in  him.  And  although  we  are  unworthy,  through  our 
manifold  sins,  to  offer  unto  thee  any  sacrifice;  yet  we  beseech 
thee  to  accept  this  our  bounden  duty  and  service;  not  weigh- 
ing our  merits,  but  pardoning  our  offences,  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord;  by  whom,  and  with  whom,  in  the  unity 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  all  honour  and  glory  be  unto  thee,  O 
Father  Almighty,  world  without  end.  Amen. 


i32  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP     THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


The  Scottish  Prayer  of  Consecration 

In  the  Scottish  Liturgy  the  Oblation  has  these  additional 
words  at  the  end:  —  "and  looking  for  His  coming  again 
with  power  and  great  glory."  The  Invocation  is  as  follows:  — 
"And  humbly  praying  that  it  may  be  unto  us  according  to 
His  word,  we  Thine  unworthy  servants  beseech  Thee,  most 
merciful  Father,  to  hear  us,  and  to  send  Thy  Holy  Spirit  upon 
us  and  upon  these  Thy  gifts  and  creatures  of  bread  and 
wine,  that  being  blessed  and  hallowed  by  His  life-giving 
power,  they  may  become  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Thy  most 
dearly  beloved  Son,  to  the  end  that  all  who  shall  receive  the 
same  may  be  sanctified  both  in  body  and  soul,  and  pre- 
served unto  everlasting  life."  The  Consecration  is  followed 
(not  preceded  as  in  the  English  and  American  Books)  by  the 
Prayer  "for  the  Whole  State  of  Christ's  Church,"  the  words 
"militant"  and  "militant  here  in  earth"  being  omitted. 

Committees  for  revision  of  the  Prayer  Book,  in  addition 
to  that  in  the  American  Church,  have  been  at  work  in  the 
Church  in  England  and  in  Canada  for  several  years.  The 
Canadian  Church  alone,  however,  has  authorized  the  pub- 
lication and  tentative  use  of  a  revised  Book  (Cambridge 
University  Press,  1915),  subject  to  ratification  at  a  later 
Synod.  The  chief  features  of  this  revision  are: — Greater 
freedom  in  use  of  the  Psalter,  a  new  Lectionary,  additional 
Sentences  for  the  Church  Seasons,  permission  to  shorten 
Matins,  Evensong,  and  Litany  on  week  days,  and  in  com- 
bination with  Holy  Communion  on  Sundays,  permission  to 
confine  the  response,  "Praise  Him,  etc."  in  the  Benedicite  to 
the  end  of  groups  of  verses,  many  additions  to  the  Occasional 
Prayers,  the  Athanasian  Creed  to  be  said  alternately  by 
Priest  and  People,  with  permission  to  omit  the  minatory 
verses,  2,  28  and  the  last,  and  an  explanatory  rubric,  en- 
largement of  the  Confirmation  Office,  and  modification  of 
the  Commination  Service.  The  feast  of  the  Transfiguration 
is  elevated  to  be  a  red  letter  day,  with  Collect,  Epistle,  and 
Gospel.  Special  services  are  provided  for  the  Accession 
Day,  for  Missions,  Harvest  Thanksgiving,  Institution  and 
Induction  of  Ministers,  and  Consecration  of  Churches  and 


SCOTTISH,  AMERICAN,  IRISH 


GENEALOGY  OF  THE  CHIEF  LITURGIES 

The  Mozarabic  is  still  used  in  a  few  churches  in  Spain.    For  the  connection  of  the 
Milanese  with  the  Transalpine  or  Gallican,  see  Duchesne,  pp.  88,  89. 

I 

*  d 

a  a  .3* 
_«|  £  g  & 

„j  C  UP*  "3 


<  w 


Ui  O 


8  ■ 


=  3'  S| 

Hill 
p*oop$u 


134  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fc?  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


Chapels,  for  all  of  which  Collects,  Epistles,  and  Gospels  are 
provided.  There  are  also  forms  for  Laying  Foundations,  and 
for  Consecration  of  a  Church -Yard  or  Cemetery,  and  of  a 
Grave.  The  only  material  change  in  the  Communion  Ser- 
vice is  the  addition  of  the  Summary  of  the  Law  to  the  Deca- 
logue. It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  the  opportunity 
was  not  taken  to  adopt  a  richer  and  a  more  primitive  form 
for  the  Prayer  of  Consecration,  such  as  that  possessed  by 
the  Scottish  and  American  Churches.  The  American  Church 
in  the  General  Convention  of  19 13  appointed  a  Revision 
Committee  which  recommended  certain  changes  and  enrich- 
ments in  191 6,  and  was  continued  in  office  to  report  again 
in  1919.  The  Convocations  of  Canterbury  and  York  have 
not  yet  issued  any  complete  report  of  their  work  (1917). 


PART  II.  THE  PRAYER  BOOK  AND 
WHAT  IT  TEACHES 


CHAPTER  XIII 


The  Holy  Communion  —  The  Preparation 
or  Pro-Anaphora 


"Jesus  came  to  them  and  spake  unto  them,  saying.  All  authority  hath  been 
given  unto  Me  in  heaven  and  on  earth.  Go  ye  therefore,  and  make  dis- 
ciples of  all  nations,  baptizing  them  into  the  Name  of  the  Father  and  of 
the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  what- 
soever I  have  commanded  you:  and  lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto 
the  end  of  the  world."  —  S.  Matt,  xxviii,  20,  R.  Ver. 


iHE  services  of  the  Prayer  Book  may  be  divided  into 


JL  three  distinct  classes;  (1)  those  intended  for  public 
worship  (the  Holy  Communion,  the  Daily  Offices  of  Matins 
and  Evensong,  and  the  Litany);  (2)  the  Occasional  Offices 
for  Priests  (Holy  Baptism,  the  Solemnization  of  Matrimony, 
Churching  of  Women,  Visitation  and  Communion  of  the  Sick, 
Burial  of  the  Dead,  etc.,);  (3)  Occasional  Offices  for  Bishops 
(Confirmation,  Ordination,  etc.). 

"The  Order  for  the  Administration  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  or  Holy  Communion,"  1  though  placed  after  the 
daily  Offices  of  Prayer,  which  are  in  a  measure  its  preparation, 
is  the  core  and  centre  of  all  Divine  Worship  as  being  the 
only  service  ordained  by  our  Lord  for  the  united  worship  of 
all  of  His  people.  For  this  reason,  in  the  first  glow  of  en- 
thusiastic love  for  their  crucified  Lord,  the  first  Christians 

1  For  the  various  names  given  to  the  Holy  Sacrament  in  Scripture  and 
the  Primitive  Church  see  chap.  iv. 


136  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fc?  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

are  found  celebrating  it  "daily,"  and  when  this  became 
impracticable  anywhere,  on  every  Lord's  Day  at  the  least.1 
This  has  been  the  rule  of  the  whole  Catholic  Church  in  all 
ages.  And  the  reason  for  this  is  evident.  The  Holy  Com- 
munion, according  to  our  Lord's  command,  is  the  ordinary 
and  not  extraordinary  service  for  all  Christian  people.  Hence 
the  office  with  which  it  is  celebrated  is  called  specifically 
"The  Liturgy,"  literally,  "The  People's  Service"  from  the 
Greek  laos,  the  people,  and  ergony  work.2 

The  full  title  given  to  the  Office  in  the  First  Book  of 
Edward  in  1549  was  "The  Supper  of  the  Lord,  and  the 
Holy  Communion,  commonly  called  the  Mass."  This 
last  title  was  omitted  in  1552,  and  has  never  been  restored. 
The  word  had  come  to  represent  only  one  essential  aspect  of 
the  service,  namely  its  "continual  remembrance  [before  God] 
of  the  sacrifice  of  the  death  of  Christ,"  and  that  in  a  manner 
wholly  unwarranted  by  Scripture  or  the  Primitive  Church, 
to  the  neglect  of  the  other  equally  essential  aspect  which 
required  the  faithful  to  "eat  and  drink"  in  fulfilment  of 
Christ's  command,  in  order  to  obtain  the  full  blessing  of  the 
Sacrament.  This  purpose  of  the  Sacrament  as  a  Holy  Com- 
munion had  been  sadly  ignored,  partly  owing  to  the  perverted 
teaching  in  regard  to  its  sacrificial  character,  partly  to  the 
novel  enforcement  of  private  confession  to  a  Priest  as  a 
condition  of  Communion,  and  partly  to  rigid  rules  in  regard 
to  fasting. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  this  word  Mass  has  absolutely  no 
theological  significance  in  itself,  though  it  is  held  in  utter 
disrepute  by  the  great  body  of  the  English-speaking  world 
on  account  of  its  association  with  the  false  views  and  super- 


1  Acts  ii,  46;  xx,  7;  1  Cor.  xi,  20;  xiv,  6. 

1  For  a  full  account  of  the  reasons  for  this  see  chaps,  xviii  and  xix. 


HOLY  COMMUNION,  PREPARATION  137 


stitious  practices  connected  with  its  use  in  mediaeval  days. 
The  word  in  early  days  was  innocent  enough.  It  is  the 
English  form  of  the  Latin  word  missa,  which  means  nothing 
more  than  "sent,"  in  allusion  to  the  dismission  or  sending 
away  of  the  congregation  by  the  Deacon  at  the  close  of  the 
service,  when  he  said,  he  missa  est,  which  may  be  freely 
rendered,  as  in  the  oriental  service,  "Let  us  depart  in  peace. " 
It  was  used  in  this  general  way  "for  every  part  of  Divine 
Service,"  1  since  the  fourth  century,  and  it  is  this  lack  of 
any  real  significance  as  applied  to  the  Holy  Communion,  in 
addition  to  the  ineradicable  prejudice  regarding  it  among 
English-speaking  people,  that  forms  the  strongest  argument 
against  recent  attempts  to  restore  it  to  popular  use.2  Though 
removed  from  the  title  of  the  Office,  we  retain  a  reminder 
of  it  in  the  popular  names  for  the  feasts  of  the  Nativity,  the 
Purification,  and  S.  Michael  and  All  Angels  (Christm^j-, 
Candlemtfj,  and  Michaelmas') . 3 

1  Bingham,  XIII,  i,  4. 

2  Dr.  Pusey  asks,  "Why  should  people  say  'Mass'  instead  of  the  Holy 
Eucharist?  .  .  .  They  might  have  gone  far  to  Catholicize  England  if  they 
would  have  taught  as  dear  John  Keble  did.  .  .  .  Now  they  only  strengthen 
a  party"  {Spiritual  Letters,  p.  251). 

3  S.  Ambrose  of  Milan  in  the  fourth  century  uses  the  word  in  a  letter 
to  his  sister  {Op.  ii,  853).  Etheria,  or  Silvia,  the  author  of  the  newly  dis- 
covered Peregrinatio,  describing  a  journey  which  she  made  to  Jerusalem 
about  the  year  375,  "uses  the  word  for  all  meetings,  for  the  [daily]  offices 
as  well  as  for  the  Liturgy"  (Duchesne,  p.  491).  Kellner  says  that  the  word 
came  only  to  be  applied,  though  not  exclusively,  to  the  Holy  Eucharist  in  the 
sixth  and  seventh  centuries  {Heortology,  p.  432).  In  Romeo  and  Juliet 
Shakespeare  puts  it  into  the  mouth  of  Juliet  addressing  Friar  Lawrence, 
where  the  reference  is  to  an  afternoon  service:  "Are  you  at  leisure,  holy 
father,  now;  or  shall  I  come  to  you  at  evening  Mass?"  (IV,  i,  38.)  Free- 
man thinks  that  "perhaps  it  is  connected  with  the  Hebrew  Missah,  a  free- 
will offering"  as  in  Deut.  xvi,  10.    {Prin.  Div.  Ser.  II,  ii,  p.  440,  note.)  It 


138   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

Before  speaking  of  the  Office  itself  it  will  be  necessary  to 
say  something  about  the  rubrics  which  precede  it.  The 
American  Church  has  omitted  the  first  of  these  requiring 
notice  by  intending  communicants  the  day  before,  but  this 
rule  had  already  in  1789  become  a  dead  letter  in  England,  as 
it  is  today.  In  regard  to  the  rubric  concerning  the  "repul- 
sion" of  an  unworthy  communicant,  it  is  to  be  remembered 
that  this  is  not  an  act  of  excommunication,  which  is  the 
exclusive  prerogative  of  the  Bishop,  but  only  a  temporary 
exclusion.  No  person  who  has  been  confirmed  can  be 
regarded  otherwise  than  as  a  possible  communicant. 

The  last  rubric  in  regard  to  the  place  where  the  Holy 
Table  shall  stand  has  been  a  source  of  remarkable  and  pro- 
longed controversy  in  England  from  the  sixteenth  century 
to  the  present  day.  The  Puritan  party  insisted  on  having  the 
"Table,"  as  they  called  it,  placed  where  the  Priest  could  be 
distinctly  heard.  This  was  a  natural  result  of  violent  reaction 
against  the  utter  perversion  of  the  old  service  when  the  Priest 
mumbled  the  Office  in  a  voice  inaudible,  and  in  "a  tongue 
not  understanded  of  the  people."  The  alleged  object  of  the 
Puritans  seemed  worthy  enough,  but  their  method  was 
certainly  very  objectionable  and  revolutionary.  The  Book 
of  1549  made  no  change  in  the  place  for  the  Altar,  but  the 
Book  of  1552  adopted  the  present  rubric  directing  that  the 
''Table,  at  the  Communion-time,  shall  stand  in  the  Body  of 
the  Church  [that  is,  the  Nave],  or  in  the  Chancel,  where 
Morning  and  Evening  Prayer  are  appointed  to  be  said."  1 

seems  strange,  however,  to  find  that  the  popular  prejudice  against  the  word 
does  not  exist  in  Germany,  or  the  Scandinavian  countries.  It  is  still  in 
use  in  the  Lutheran  Prayer  Books  of  Germany,  Sweden  and  Denmark. 

1  So  far  as  the  actual  Communion  was  concerned,  this  had  some  show 
of  precedent  in  the  custom  of  the  Eastern  Church  in  always  communicating 
the  people  at  the  gate  of  the  choir  or  sanctuary.  The  object  of  the  Puritans, 
however,  was  not  that  of  the  Eastern  Church,  namely,  to  guard  the  sane- 


HOLY  COMMUNION,  PREPARATION  139 


This  aim  of  the  Puritan  party  became  for  a  time  completely 
successful  when,  on  September  1,  1641,  a  tyrannical  and 
illegal  order  of  the  House  of  Commons,  then  in  rebellion 
against  the  King,  was  issued  commanding  all  church-wardens 
to  "forthwith  remove  the  Communion  Table  from  the  east 
end  of  the  church  or  chancel  into  some  other  convenient 
place."  In  1662,  after  the  Restoration,  vigorous  efforts 
were  made  to  correct  these  abuses;  nevertheless,  for  a  long 
time,  the  evil  custom  continued  in  many  country  churches, 
and  it  was  not  until  the  following  century  that  the  restora- 
tion of  the  Altar  to  its  ancient  place  against  the  eastern  wall 
was  accomplished  generally  throughout  the  Church.1 

All  this  has  an  important  bearing  on  the  further  direction 
of  this  rubric  concerning  the  position  of  the  Priest  at  the 
beginning  of  the  service  where  he  is  bidden  to  stand  "at  the 
north  side  of  the  Table."  The  Puritan  party  insisted,  as 
we  have  seen,  on  its  standing  with  its  sides  turned  north  and 
south,  "table-wise,"  instead  of  east  and  west  as  formerly. 
But  when  the  altars  were  put  in  their  ancient  place,  this 
direction  remained,  and  as  a  result  the  whole  question  of 
the  position  of  the  Priest  at  the  beginning  of  the  office  was 

tuary  from  irreverence,  but  to  degrade  the  character  of  the  Sacrament  to 
that  of  a  mere  social  religious  feast,  the  people  actually  receiving  in  their 
seats  where  it  "cannot  be  discovered  whether  they  kneel  or  no,  while  they 
receive,  and  the  Minister  cannot  possibly  come  with  any  convenience  at 
them  which  are  placed  farthest  in  their  seats"  (Letter  of  Archbishop  Laud 
to  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln).  It  was  a  frequent  and  bitter  charge  against  Laud 
that  "he  placed  the  Holy  Table  altar-wise  at  the  upper  end  of  the  chancel, 
and  placed  a  rail  before  it"  (Scudamore,  pp.  159,  163). 

1  A  few  examples  of  the  former  evil  custom  were  still  said  to  exist  in 
England  in  1876,  but  outside  of  England  probably  not  a  single  case  can  be 
found  where  the  removal  to  "the  body  of  the  church"  exists  today.  It  is 
surely  time  therefore  for  removing  from  our  Prayer  Book  this  reminder 
of  days  of  confusion  and  irreverence  long  since  past.  (See  Scudamore, 
Not.  Euch.,  pp.  161,  162.) 


i4o  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


left,  and  is  still  left,  in  complete  confusion.1  In  the  American 
Book  "north  side"  is  changed  to  "right  side."  In  the  Scot- 
tish Liturgy  the  rubric  says,  "standing  at  the  Holy  Table." 

The  Order  for  the  Holy  Communion  in  every  Liturgy, 
ancient  and  modern,  has  two  very  distinct  divisions,  the 
Preparation  and  the  Celebration.  These  are  called  in 
the  Eastern  Church  the  Pro-anaphora,  down  to  the  Sursum 
corda  ("Lift  up  your  hearts"),  and  the  Anaphora,  or  Offer- 
ing (which  may  be  said  to  include  the  actual  Communion); 
and  in  the  Latin  Church,  the  Ordinary  of  the  Mass,  and 
the  Canon.  The  word  Ante-Communion,  though  it  does  not 
correspond  exactly  to  the  Pro-Anaphora,  is  the  only  word 
in  common  use  among  us  today.  "Communion,"  however, 
has  come  to  signify  with  us,  though  inaccurately,  "the  Cele- 
bration of  the  Communion,"  and  not  merely  the  act  of 
communicating,  so  that  Ante-Communion  in  the  sense  of 
Ante-Celebration  is  as  nearly  the  equivalent  of  Pro-Anaphora 
as  any  word  we  can  employ.  The  title  of  the  Scottish  Liturgy 
expresses  the  distinction  with  great  accuracy.  It  is  "For 
the  Celebration  of  the  Holy  Eucharist,  and  Administration 
of  Holy  Communion." 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  Lord's  Prayer,  with  which  the 
service  begins,  is  to  be  said  by  the  Priest  alone,  as  is  evident 
by  the  way  in  which  the  Amen  is  printed,  not  in  italic  but  in 
roman  type.  This  is  a  remnant  of  the  old  English  rule  for 
the  Priest  to  make  his  own  preparation  privately  in  the 
sacristy  before  entering.2 

The  introduction  of  the  Ten  Commandments,  with  the 

1  See  the  "Lambeth  Judgment"  of  Archbishop  Benson  in  re  Read  and 
Others  versus  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  1890,  pp.  18-45. 

2  The  liturgic  rule  throughout  the  Prayer  Book  is  that  when  Amen  is 
in  italics,  it  is  a  response  by  the  people.  When  it  is  in  roman  or  ordinary 
type,  it  is  not  a  response,  but  is  part  of  the  prayer  and,  as  in  this  cist,  is 


HOLY  COMMUNION,  PREPARATION  141 


ten-fold  Kyrie  ("Lord  have  mercy,  etc.")  has  been  thought 
by  some  to  be  a  liturgical  novelty,  as  having  no  place  in  the 
older  service  books.  It  finds  its  analogy,  however,  in  the 
primitive  custom  in  the  early  liturgies  of  reading  here  a 
portion  of  the  Old  Testament,  in  addition  to  the  Epistle  and 
Gospel  from  the  New.  These  Old  Testament  Lections 
disappeared  from  both  the  Eastern  and  Western  liturgies  at 
an  early  date,  though  traces  of  them  are  found  as  late  as 
the  ninth  century.  The  Armenian  Liturgy  is  the  only  one 
that  retains  the  three  Eucharistic  Lections.1 

It  is  to  be  remembered,  moreover,  that  for  three  hundred 
years  the  Commandments  had  been  recited  and  explained 
in  the  English  Church  publicly  once  a  quarter,2  and  that, 
together  with  the  Creed  and  the  Lord's  Prayer,  they  were 

to  be  said  by  the  Minister  alone,  or,  as  in  the  General  Confession,  by  Min- 
ister and  People  together.  Another  important  rule  of  printing  worth  re- 
membering is  in  regard  to  the  use  of  capitals.  Capitals  are  frequently  used 
in  other  places  than  the  beginning  of  sentences,  or  proper  names.  The 
purpose  here  is  to  guide  the  eye  of  the  reader,  and  in  the  case  of  prayers 
to  be  said  by  Priest  and  People  together,  as  in  the  Confessions,  they  have 
the  additional  purpose  of  making  the  clauses  so  distinct  that  the  congregation 
may  be  able  to  say  them  in  unison  without  lagging  or  confusion.  Bearing 
this  rule  in  mind  it  will  be  seen  that  the  "General  Thanksgiving"  is  not 
meant  to  be  said  in  unison  as  it  has  only  the  usual  capitalization  at  the 
beginning  of  each  sentence,  and  the  Amen  is  in  italics.  Here  the  word 
"General"  has  reference  to  things,  and  not  to  persons,  as  in  the  "General 
Confession." 

1  See  Duchesne,  pp.  168,  577B.  It  is  worthy  of  note  also  that  the  Com- 
mandments were  recited  daily  in  the  Temple  as  part  of  the  Shema.  (See 
Warren,  Lit.  A.  Nic.  Church,  195.)  The  Summary  of  the  Commandments 
given  by  our  Lord  in  S.  Matt,  xxii,  37-41  was  introduced  into  the  Non- 
juror's Office  of  1718,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  Commandments.  It  was 
added  to  the  Scottish  Office  later  as  an  alternative,  and  in  1789  was  adopted 
by  the  American  Church  to  be  used  in  the  same  way  on  any  day,  provided 
the  Decalogue  was  read  once  each  Sunday.   P.  and  F.,  p.  478,  note. 

2  See  Johnson,  English  Canons,  II,  283,  520. 


i42  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


contained  in  the  popular  private  Prayer  Books  in  use  in 
mediaeval  days  called  Prymers.  They  have  here  the  further 
very  useful  purpose  (especially  as  they  are  explained  in  the 
"Duty  to  God  and  our  Neighbor")  of  providing  communi- 
cants with  a  most  wholesome  method  of  self-examination 
before  they  "presume  to  receive  that  Holy  Sacrament/' 
In  this  connection  the  ten-fold  Kyrie  may  be  regarded  as  a 
substitute  for  the  penitential  Litany  with  which  the  earliest 
liturgies  began  the  Office,  and  which  is  still  the  use  of  the 
Eastern  Church.  It  has  been  well  said  that  the  Kyrie  is 
the  natural  cry  of  the  human  heart  in  the  presence  of  God's 
eternal  law.1 


1  Dr.  Pusey  "held  that  the  introduction  of  the  Commandments  into 
the  Communion  Service,  and  the  injunction  that  they  should  be  set  up  at 
the  East  end  of  every  church,  was  a  protest  of  the  Reformers  against  the 
antinomian  tendency  of  the  Lutheran  doctrine  of  Justification"  (Baring- 
Gould,  The  Church  Revival,  p.  272).  Does  not  this  same  reason  still  hold  good 
as  against  certain  similar  tendencies  of  today,  when  it  is  claimed  that 
"the  Ten  Commandments  have  no  place  in  practical  politics,"  international 
as  well  as  national? 

In  view  of  a  common  objection  to  the  fourth  Commandment  in  particular, 
it  should  be  noted  that  this  is  the  primal  law  "for  man"  (S.  Mark  ii,  27), 
and  not  for  Hebrews  only.  In  fact  there  is  not  in  it  the  faintest  trace  of 
Judaism.  On  the  contrary  it  directs  us  back  to  creation's  dawn,  and  not  to 
Abraham  or  the  Red  Sea,  for  the  reason  or  illustration  of  its  observance. 
Nor  is  there  anything  of  a  ceremonial  character  required  for  its  observance 
but  only  rest  from  the  burden  of  labor,  and  the  keeping  of  it  "  holy."  More- 
over "the  seventh  day"  only  denotes  the  -proportion  of  time  and  not  any 
particular  day  of  the  week,  which,  for  the  Hebrews  before  the  Exodus,  is 
supposed  to  have  been  Friday,  the  day  being  changed  to  Saturday,  after 
the  Exodus,  that  being  the  actual  day  of  the  week  when  the  first  Passover 
was  celebrated,  the  day  of  their  "resurrection"  from  the  bondage  of  Egypt. 
See  Ex.  xii,  14,  17;  Deut.  v,  14,  15.  One  of  the  earliest  of  the  Church 
Orders,  the  Ethiopic  Didascalia  (about  a.d.  335),  calls  Saturday  "the 
Jewish  Sabbath,"  and  the  Lord's  Day  "the  Christian  Sabbath"  (Maclean, 
Ancient  Ch.  Orders,  p.  57). 


HOLY  COMMUNION,  PREPARATION  143 


The  rubric  prescribing  that  the  Priest  shall  "turn  to  the 
People,  and  rehearse  distinctly"  the  Commandments  is 
noteworthy  as  an  example  of  the  manifest  intention  of  the 
Church  throughout  all  services,  namely,  that  they  shall  be 
read  in  such  a  manner  that  all  may  hear  to  their  edification. 
This  is  a  very  marked  feature  of  the  English  Book,  where 
the  following  directions  (omitted  from  the  American  Book 
for  some  strange  reason)  occur,  and  which  experience  proves 
are  by  no  means  unnecessary:  —  The  Sentences  in  the 
Daily  Prayers  are  to  be  "read  with  a  loud  voice";  the  Lord's 
Prayer  "with  an  audible  voice";  and  the  Lessons  are  to  be 
read  "distinctly"  and  "with  an  audible  voice;  he  that 
readeth  so  standing  and  turning  himself,  as  he  may  best 
be  heard  of  all  such  as  are  present."  This  rule  as  being  that 
of  common  sense  is  plainly  meant  to  apply  to  the  Eucharistic 
Lessons,  and  to  all  other  parts  of  the  service.  It  surely  im- 
plies also  that  they  shall  be  read  at  such  a  pace  that  the 
Minister  as  well  as  the  people  can  let  their  thought  follow 
the  words,  instead  of  conveying  the  impression  that  the  chief 
object  is  to  get  through  as  speedily  as  possible.  In  regard  to 
reading  the  service  in  general,  the  saying  attributed  to  Gar- 
rick  concerning  some  of  the  Clergy  in  his  day  may  be  found 
applicable  to  some  in  ours  also:  —  "While  we  actors  speak 
unreal  words  as  if  they  were  real,  these  Clergy  speak  real 
words  as  if  they  were  unreal."  1 

1  It  is  strange  that  any  intelligent  clergyman  should  think  or  do  other- 
wise, though  as  early  as  the  sixth  century  "a  severe  law"  of  the  Emperor 
Justinian  was  found  necessary,  Bingham  tells  us,  "commanding  all  Bishops 
and  Presbyters  to  make  the  Divine  Oblation,  and  the  prayers  used  in 
Baptism,  not  in  secret,  or  with  a  low  mumbling  voice,  but  so  as  all  the 
faithful  might  hear  them"  (Jntiq.,  XV,  iii,  33).  Concerning  the  custom  of 
intoning  the  Lessons,  while  admitting  that  "the  practice  may  be  very 
ancient",  Duchesne  says,  "It  was  necessarily  introduced  as  soon  as  the 
Christian  assemblies  became  very  large,"  and  with  the  object  of  enabling 


i44  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

"the  officiating  minister  to  make  himself  heard."  He  attributes  the  use 
of  the  Secreta  (so-called)  in  the  Mass,  that  is,  "the  custom  of  pronouncing 
in  a  low  voice  certain  formularies  which  were  evidently  intended  in  the 
first  instance  to  be  heard  by  every  body,"  to  "the  same  reason  —  namely, 
the  difficulty  of  maintaining  a  high  intonation  in  a  large  building"  (p.  118). 
There  is  of  course  a  place  for  genuine  Secreta,  that  is,  silent  prayers  by  the 
Priest,  as  at  the  preparation  or  presentation  of  the  oblations,  and  elsewhere, 
especially  at  the  close  of  the  Eucharistic  Office,  where  it  has  been  the  good 
custom  of  the  Western  Church  for  the  Priest  to  recite  silently  the  Gospel 
for  Christmas  Day  (S.  John  i,  1-15). 


CHAPTER  XIV 


The  Collects 

"For  twelve  hundred  years  the  Collects  have  been  as  manna  in  the  wilderness 
to  devout  spirits,  and  are,  next  to  Scripture  itself,  the  clearest  standard 
whereby  genuine  piety  may  be  discerned,  the  surest  guide  by  which  its 
progress  may  be  directed,  the  highest  mark  to  which  its  wishes  would 
aspire"  —  Alexander  Knox. 

AS  the  Collects,  Epistles,  and  Gospels  are  part  of  the 
Eucharistic  Office,  their  appointment  for  every  Sun- 
day and  Holy  Day,  and  even  for  week-days  (where  a  cele- 
bration is  desired  or  practicable),  shows  clearly  the  mind  of 
the  Church  in  regard  to  the  frequency  of  the  Sacrament  as 
being  the  same  as  that  which,  in  the  last  chapter,  we  found 
to  be  the  rule  of  the  New  Testament,  and  of  the  whole  Church 
in  all  ages.1  It  has  been  the  plain  intention  of  the  Church 
also  in  every  revision  of  the  Prayer  Book  that  no  exception 
should  be  made  of  Good  Friday.  "The  appointment  of  an 
Epistle  and  Gospel,"  writes  Mr.  Blunt,  "is  a  prima  facie 
evidence  that  Consecration  on  Good  Friday  was  intended  to 
supersede  the  Mass  of  the  Pre-sanctified  [the  reserved  Sacra- 
ment from  Maundy  Thursday]  which  had  been  hitherto  used, 
and  Communion  was  of  course  intended  to  follow.  The  prac- 
tice of  the  Church  of  England  since  the  Reformation  certainly 
seems  to  have  been  to  celebrate  the  Holy  Communion  on 
this  day."2 

1  See  the  first  rubric  for  Advent  Sunday,  and  those  for  Holy  Innocents, 
the  Circumcision,  Epiphany,  and  Ash-Wednesday  after  the  Gospel;  also 
the  proper  Prefaces. 

2  Ann.  Pr.  Bk.,  pp.  101-2.  This  was  the  practice  of  Bishop  King  of 
Lincoln,  and  of  S.  Paul's,  London,  under  Dean  Church,  Canon  (afterwards 
Dean)  Gregory,  and  Canon  Liddon.  See  Liddon's  Life,  by  Johnston,  pp. 
331-2.  For  an  account  of  how  the  omission  of  Consecration  grew  up  in 
the  Church,  see  Scudamore,  Notitia  Euch.,  xvii,  sec.  3. 


i46  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

The  Collect  is  peculiar  to  the  offices  of  the  Western 
Church.  It  has  no  existence  in  the  East.  A  Collect  may  be 
called  the  sonnet  of  devotion.  Like  the  sonnet  of  poetry  it 
is  condensed  in  form,  comparatively  short,  and  aims  at  a 
single  point,  or  at  two  points  closely  connected  with  each 
other.  In  contrast  "with  such  wordy  effusions  as  exist  in 
Knox's  'Book  of  Common  Order/  "  writes  Canon  Bright,  the 
Collects  "say  so  much  in  saying  so  little;  address  the  Most 
High  with  such  adoring  awe,  and  utter  man's  needs  with 
such  profound  pathos,  yet  with  such  a  calm  intensity  — 
assailing  'Heaven's  door,'  as  our  great  poet  says,  with  the 
'forceful  knocking'  of  determined  faith;1  are  never  weak, 
never  diluted,  never  drawling,  never  ill-arranged,  never  a 
provocation  to  listlessness;  exhibit  an  exquisite  skill  of  an- 
tithesis, and  a  rhythmical  harmony  which  the  ear  is  loth 
to  lose."  2 

Moreover,  beautiful  as  were  most  of  the  English  collects 
in  their  Latin  dress,  they  were  fortunate  also  in  their  sixteenth 
century  translators,  chief  of  whom  was  Cranmer.  The  gift 
indeed  seems  to  have  been  almost  peculiar  to  that  age,  and 
it  has  been  well  said,  "It  is  with  a  Latin  collect  as  with  a 
Greek  ode  or  an  Italian  sonnet:  no  matter  how  wonderful 
the  diction,  the  charm  of  it  is  as  a  locked  secret  until  the 
thing  has  been  Englished  by  genius  akin  to  his  who  first 
made  it  out  of  his  own  heart."  3  At  the  last  revision  of  the 
Prayer  Book  (1662)  a  number  of  prayers  like  that  for  "All 
Conditions  of  Men"  are  called  collects,  but  they  have  not 
the  true  character  of  the  class.4 

1  Lyra  Innocentium.  2  Ancient  Collects,  pp.  199,  200. 

3  Dr.  W.  R.  Huntington. 

4  The  characteristic  feature  of  the  prayers  also  in  the  Book  which  Baxter 
had  the  temerity  to  produce  in  two  weeks  (see  p.  115)  is  lengthiness.  The 
sentence  with  which  the  Book  begins  contains  eighty-three  words  by  actual 
count! 


THE  COLLECTS 


147 


There  are  three  necessary  parts  in  every  true  Collect.  (1) 
The  Invocation,  usually  addressed  to  God  the  Father,  and 
containing  a  reference  to  some  attributes  of  His  character. 
(Only  three  in  our  Prayer  Book  are  addressed  to  our  Lord, 
and  only  one  to  the  Blessed  Trinity.)  (2)  The  Petition,  con- 
sisting of  one  or  more  clauses.  (3)  The  Conclusion,  express- 
ing the  grounds  of  our  petition,  "through  Jesus  Christ,"  or 
a  recognition  of  His  union  with  the  Father  and  the  Holy 
Ghost;  or,  as  in  the  Collect  for  S.  Stephen's  Day,  a  reference 
to  His  present  power  and  will  to  help.1 

Fifty-eight  of  the  Eucharistic  Collects  in  the  Prayer  Book 
are  translations  from  those  of  the  ancient  English  Use,  and 
are  found  also  in  the  Roman  Sacramentary  as  revised  by 
Gregory  the  Great  (Bishop  from  a.d.  590  to  604).  (A  list 
of  these  and  other  Collects  in  the  Prayer  Book  is  given  in 
the  Appendix  to  this  chapter.)  The  following  Collects  were 
newly  composed  for  the  First  Book  of  Edward,  Cranmer 
being  the  probable  author:  —  First  and  Second  in  Advent, 
Christmas,  Circumcision,  Quinquagesima,  Ash-Wednesday, 
I  in  Lent,  the  Third  for  Good  Friday,  I  and  II  after  Easter, 

1  There  need  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  word  Collect.  An 
explanation  common  today,  namely  that  the  prayer  received  its  name 
from  the  assumption  —  rarely  true  —  that  it  collects  the  thought  of  the 
Epistle  and  Gospel,  is  without  any  foundation  whatever.  The  history  of 
the  word  tells  unmistakably  its  real  origin.  The  Collect  in  its  original  use 
was  the  first  prayer  in  the  Eucharistic  service,  that  is,  after  the  people  are 
collected.  "After  saluting  the  congregation  ['the  Lord  be  with  you']  the 
celebrant  calls  on  them  to  pray  for  him  in  the  introductory  prayer,  which 
is  called  the  collecta,  because  it  was  said  as  soon  as  the  people  were  as- 
sembled. .  .  .  Colligere  plebem  is  the  ordinary  expression  for  calling  the 
people  together  for  worship.  The  meaning  of  the  word  collecta  is  made 
perfectly  clear  in  the  rubrics  of  the  Gregorian  Sacramentary  relating  to 
the  Litany  days.  The  prayer  prescribed  for  use  at  the  church  whence  the 
procession  sets  out  is  called  *  ad  collectam."'  (Duchesne,  pp.  166,  167,  and 
note.) 


i48  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


S.  Thomas,  SS.  Philip  and  James,  S.  Matthew,  S.  Luke, 
SS.  Simon  and  Jude,  All  Saints,  and  parts  of  those  for  the 
Conversion  of  S.  Paul  and  S.  Bartholomew.  Ill  Advent 
and  VI  Epiphany  were  added  in  1662. 

It  will  be  observed  that  few  of  the  Collects  for  Saints' 
Days  are  translations  from  the  ancient  English  Use.  The 
reason  for  this  is  that  most  of  these  were  addressed  to  the 
individual  Saints  by  name,  asking  their  prayers  ("pray  for 
us,"  or  a  pro  nobis).  For  the  first  seven  centuries  there  was 
nothing  to  support  this  custom  but  certain  rhetorical  apostro- 
phes resting  on  an  "if,"  the  possibility  that  in  some  way  the 
departed  may  hear  or  be  informed  of  our  prayers.  But  none 
of  these  is  an  invocation  except  in  the  sense  in  which  Tenny- 
son invokes  the  spirit  of  his  friend  Arthur  Hallam:  — 

"Be  near  me  when  my  light  is  low, 

When  the  blood  creeps,  and  the  nerves  prick 
And  tingle;  and  the  heart  is  sick, 
And  all  the  wheels  of  being  slow." 

It  was  not  until  the  eighth  century  that  the  invocations  were 
introduced  into  the  Litany  in  the  West,  and  "the  opinion  of 
praying  to  Saints  had  not  the  full  growth  for  an  article  of 
faith  till  after  1335."  1  That  the  Saints,  and  all  the  faithful 
departed,  pray  for  those  who  are  still  in  the  thick  of  life's 
conflict  cannot  be  doubted,  without  assuming  that  they  have 
lost  the  love  of  their  neighbor,  which  is  an  evident  impossi- 
bility. Even  the  once  selfish  Dives  is  represented  by  our 
Lord  as  remembering  his  brethren  on  earth.  How  much 
more  then  the  faithful  Christians  in  Paradise.2   But  that  the 

1  Twysden,  His.  Vindication,  ix,  21,  pp.  214  sq.  See  Procter,  His. 
B.  C.  P.,  pp.  249,  298,  and  Mason,  Purgatory,  etc.,  pp.  112  sq. 

2  S.  Luke  xvi,  23,  etc.;  compare  Rev.  vi,  9,  10.  Concerning  this  Charles 
Kingsley  speaks  of  "the  help"  we  ought  to  receive  "from  our  blessed  dead, 


THE  COLLECTS 


149 


faithful  departed  can  hear  our  petitions  to  themselves  is 
quite  a  different  as  well  as  a  doubtful  matter.  It  is  true  that 
invocation  does  not  necessarily  imply  worship  of  the  Saints, 
but  only  asking  their  intercession  with  God,  as  one  might 
ask  the  intercession  of  a  friend  still  on  earth.  Nevertheless 
the  custom  has  proved  dangerous  to  ignorant  Christians  in 
the  past,  and  tends  undoubtedly  to  put  the  direct  mediation 
of  our  Lord  into  the  background.  Moreover,  it  has  no 
sanction  in  Holy  Scripture,  nor  in  the  primitive  liturgies. 

The  remarkable  skill  and  added  beauty  of  Cranmer's 
work  in  the  revision  may  be  seen  by  comparing  the  following 
Collects  with  the  Latin  originals:  — 

"O  Almighty  God,  who  alone  canst  order  the  unruly  wills 
and  affections  of  sinful  men;  Grant  unto  Thy  people,  that 
they  may  love  the  thing  which  Thou  commandest,  and  desire 
that  which  Thou  dost  promise;  that  so,  among  the  sundry 
and  manifold  changes  of  the  world,  our  hearts  may  surely 
there  be  fixed  where  true  joys  are  to  be  found;  through 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord."  The  original  reads:  —  Deus,  qui 
fidelium  mentes  unius  efficis  voluntatis,  da  populis  tuis  id 
amare  quod  prcecipis,  id  desiderate  quod  promittis,  ut  inter 
mundanas  varietates  ibi  nostra  fixa  sint  corda  ubi  vera  sunt 
gaudia.   Per,  etc.  1 

"O  Lord,  who  never  failest  to  help  and  govern  them  whom 
Thou  dost  bring  up  in  Thy  stedfast  fear  and  love;  Keep  us, 
we  beseech  Thee,  under  the  protection  of  Thy  good  provi- 
dence, and  make  us  to  have  a  perpetual  fear  and  love  of  Thy 
holy  Name;  through,  etc.,,    The  original  reads:) — 

Sancti  nominis  tui,  Domine,  timorem  pariter  et  amorem  fac 

who  surely  will  not  use  their  power  —  the  augmented  spiritual  power  of 
their  present  state  —  for  themselves;   but  as  Christ  uses  His,  for  those 
they  love"  (Daily  Thoughts  from  the  Writings  of  C.  Kingslty,  p.  95). 
1  IV  after  Easter. 


i5o  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


nos  habere  perpetuam;  quia  nunquam  tua  gubernatione  desti- 
tutSy  quos  in  soliditate  tua  dilectionis  instituis.  Per  Dominum, 
etc.1 

These  two  Collects  illustrate  the  method  by  which  the 
more  severe  and  epigrammatic  wording  of  the  Latin  is  trans- 
formed, rather  than  translated,  into  the  tender  and  flowing 
language  of  "English  undefiled."  2 

"Not  a  few  of  the  ancient  collects  which  have  thus  been 
preserved  to  us,"  writes  Canon  Bright,  "are  rich  in  interest, 
historical  or  liturgical.  The  daily  collects  for  Peace,  and  V 
Trinity  enable  us  to  feel  what  Roman  or  Italian  Churchmen 
felt  in  the  latter  half  of  the  fifth  century,  when  sieges  and 
barbaric  invasions  made  men's  hearts  fail  for  fear,  —  when 
Rome  but  narrowly  escaped  the  Huns,  and  did  not  escape 
the  Vandals,  and  the  Western  Empire  passed  away  before 
Odoacer,  and  Odoacer  was  overthrown  by  Theodoric.  .  .  . 
Lord  Macaulay,  in  a  well-known  passage,  has  spoken  of  the 
ancient  collects  in  the  Prayer-Book  as  having  'soothed  the 
griefs  of  forty  generations  of  Christians/  No  one  indeed 
would  say  that  the  collect-type  of  prayer  could  meet  all  the 
requirements  of  Christian  devotion.  There  are  deep  needs 
and  frequent  occasions  for  which  its  restraint  of  expression 


1  II  after  Trinity. 

2  The  Scottish  Prayer  Book  has  added  special  Collects,  Epistles,  and 
Gospels  for  the  Festivals  of  S.  Kentigern,  the  earliest  missionary  to  Scot- 
land (Jan.  13),  S.  Patrick  (March  17),  S.  Columba  (June  9),  S.  Ninian 
(Sept.  16),  S.  Margaret  of  Scotland  (Nov.  16),  and  for  the  Dedication  Fes- 
tival of  a  Church,  Thanksgiving  for  Harvest,  the  Solemnization  of  Matri- 
mony, the  Burial  of  the  Dead,  and  additional  sets  for  Christmas  and  Easter; 
also  a  special  Gospel  for  the  Lent  Ember  Days,  and  an  Epistle,  with  two 
alternative  Gospels,  for  the  September  Ember  Days.  The  American  Church 
added  in  1892  Collects,  Epistles,  and  Gospels  for  the  Feast  of  the  Trans- 
figuration (August  6),  and  for  a  first  Communion  on  Christmas  Day  and 
Easter  Day. 


THE  COLLECTS  151 

would  seem  too  cold,  and  its  measured  orderliness  too  elab- 
orate. .  .  .  Yet,  all  this  allowed  for,  the  best  specimens  of 
the  class  are  a  goodly  heritage  of  Western  Christendom,  which, 
for  its  purpose,  may  be  set  against  the  glowing  poetry  and  the 
exuberant  adoration  with  which,  in  the  words  of  a  great  litur- 
gical writer,  the  Eastern  Church  *  soars  up  to  God.'  ...  A 
thoughtful  poet  of  our  Church  has  put  into  touching  words 
the  desire  to  carry  the  Sunday  Collect  through  the  varied 
life  of  the  week, 

'That  so  my  steps  may  turn  to  practice  clear, 
And  'scape  those  ways  where  feverish  fancy  burns;' 
and  he  has  described  it  as  the  constant  renewal  of 
'  a  tale  of  better  things 
Like  tune  that  pleased  our  childhood's  pensive  ear,' 
which 

'Still  as  we  grow  old  is  doubly  dear.'"  1 

Appendix  to  Chapter  XIV 
For  the  originals  of  the  Collects,  as  given  by  Canon  Bright 
{Ancient  Collects,  pp.  208,  sq.),  we  are  indebted  as  follows:  — 

1.  To  the  Sacramentary  of  S.  Leo,  Bishop  of  Rome  (440- 
461),  seven,  namely,  3rd  after  Easter,  5th,  9th,  10th,  12th, 
13th,  14th,  after  Trinity. 

2.  To  S.  Gelasius  (492-496),  twenty-nine,  namely,  Morn- 
ing and  Evening  Collects  for  Peace,  Evening  for  Aid  against 
Perils,  Collect  for  Clergy  and  People,  4th  in  Advent,  Inno- 
cents' Day,  Palm  Sunday,  Second  for  Good  Friday,  Easter 
Day,  4th,  5th,  after  Easter,  1st,  2nd,  6th,  7th,  8th,  10th, 
nth,  12th,  15th,  16th,  18th,  19th,  20th,  21st,  "Assist  us 
mercifully,"  "Almighty  and  everliving  God,"  in  the  Confir- 
mation Service,  "O  most  merciful  God,"  in  the  Visitation 
Office,  "O  Lord,  we  beseech  Thee,"  in  the  Commination  or 
Penitential  Office  for  Ash-Wednesday. 

1  Prayer  Book  Commentary,  pp.  92-96.  See  also  Freeman,  Prin.  Div. 
Ser.  I,  p.  274;  Dean  Goulburn,  The  Collects  of  the  Day;  and  Isaac  Williams, 
The  Cathedral,  p.  15. 


152  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


3.  To  Gregory  the  Great  (590-604),  thirty-three,  namely, 
S.  Stephen,  S.  John  Evangelist,  Epiphany,  1st,  2nd,  3rd, 
4th,  5th,  after  Epiphany,  Septuagesima,  Sexagesima,  2nd, 
3rd,  4th,  5th,  in  Lent,  first  for  Good  Friday,  Second  half  of 
Easter  Collect,  Ascension,  Whitsunday,  3rd,  4th,  17th,  22nd, 
23rd,  24th,  25th,  after  Trinity,  Purification,  Annunciation, 
S.  Michael  and  All  Angels,  "We  humbly  beseech  Thee,  O 
Father"  (Litany),  "O  God,  whose  nature  and  property," 
"Prevent  us"  ("Direct  us"),  "Almighty  and  immortal 
God"  (Baptismal  Service),  First  part  of  the  first  Collect  in 
Burial  Office. 

The  following  classification  of  the  Collects,  as  given  by 
Canon  Bright,1  may  assist  many  in  their  private  or  family 
devotions:  — 

1.  For  the  Spirit  of  acceptable  Prayer.  3rd  and  10th  after 
Trinity. 

2.  For  Repentance.    Ash-Wednesday,  S.  John  Baptist. 

3.  For  Pardon.  "O  God,  whose  nature,"  Septuagesima, 
4th  in  Lent,  12th,  21st,  24th,  after  Trinity,  First  in  Com- 
mination  (Penitential  Office  for  Ash-Wednesday). 

4.  For  Faith.  Trinity,  S.  Thomas,  S.  Mark,  Annunciation. 

5.  For  Hope  of  Heavenly  Blessedness.  2nd  in  Advent,  S. 
Stephen,  4th  after  Easter. 

6.  For  Love.   Quinquagesima,  2nd,  6th,  7th,  after  Trinity. 

7.  For  Faith,  Hope,  and  Love.    14th  after  Trinity. 

8.  For  Purity.  Innocents,  Circumcision,  6th  after  Epiph- 
any, 1st  in  Lent,  Easter  Even,  1st  after  Easter,  18th  after 
Trinity,  Purification,  "Almighty  God,  unto  whom"  (Com- 
munion Office). 

9.  For  Unworldliness.  4th  after  Easter,  Ascension,  S. 
John  Baptist,  S.  James,  S.  Matthew. 

10.  For  Devotion  of  the  Will  to  God.  Second  Evening 
Collect,  20th  and  25th  after  Trinity,  S.  Andrew. 

11.  For  Renewal.   Christmas  Day. 

12.  For  Illumination.    S.  John  Evangelist. 


Ancient  Collects,  pp.  231,  sq. 


THE  COLLECTS 


153 


13.  For  Right  Intentions.  5  th  after  Easter,  9th  after 
Trinity. 

14.  For  the  Carrying-out  of  such  Intentions.  Easter  Day, 
"Prevent  us"  ("Direct  us"). 

15.  For  Grace  to  know  God's  Will.  First  after  Epiphany, 
Whitsunday. 

16.  For  Grace  to  do  God's  Will.  1st  and  4th  in  Advent, 
1st,  nth,  13th,  17th,  20th,  25th  after  Trinity,  SS.  Philip  and 
James. 

17.  For  Grace  to  Use  God's  Gifts.   S.  Barnabas. 

18.  For  Grace  to  love  God's  Word.  2nd  in  Advent,  S.  Paul, 
S.  Luke,  S.  Bartholomew. 

19.  For  Defence  against  Danger,  or  Deliverance  from  Evil. 
2nd  and  3rd  Morning  Collects,  3rd,  4th,  5th,  after  Epiphany, 
Sexagesima,  2nd,  3rd,  5th,  in  Lent,  2nd,  3rd,  8th,  15th,  16th, 
20th,  22nd,  after  Trinity,  S.  Michael. 

20.  For  Comfort.   Sunday  after  Ascension,  Whitsunday. 

21.  For  Guidance.  4th,  19th  after  Trinity,  "Assist  us," 
and  "O  Almighty  Lord"  (in  Post-Communion). 

22.  For  the  Benefit  of  Christ's  Example.  Palm  Sunday, 
2nd  after  Easter. 

23.  For  the  Benefit  of  Christ's  Sacrifice.  2nd  after  Easter, 
Annunciation. 

24.  For  Conformity  to  the  Christian  Standard.  3rd  after 
Easter,  All  Saints. 

25.  For  Peace.  2nd  Morning  and  Evening  Collects,  2nd 
after  Epiphany,  5th  after  Trinity. 

26.  For  the  Church  and  its  Work.  Collect  for  Clergy  and 
People,  S.  John  Evangelist,  5th  after  Epiphany,  Good  Friday, 
5th,  15th,  16th,  22nd,  after  Trinity,  S.  Matthias,  S.  Peter, 
S.  Bartholomew,  SS.  Simon  and  Jude. 

27.  For  Final  Blessedness.  Epiphany,  6th  and  13th  after 
Trinity,  [Transfiguration,  in  American  Book]. 

28.  At  the  Close  of  Prayers.  12th,  23rd,  after  Trinity, 
"Assist  us,"  "Almighty  God,  the  fountain  of  all  wisdom," 
"Almighty  God,  Who  hast  promised  to  hear." 


CHAPTER  XV 


Epistles,  Gospels,  Creed,  and  Sermon 

"  0  make  Thy  Churchy  dear  Saviour, 

A  lamp  of  purest  gold, 
To  bear  before  the  nations 

Thy  true  light  as  of  old; 
0  teach  Thy  wandering  pilgrims 

By  this  their  path  to  trace. 
Till,  clouds  and  darkness  ended. 

They  see  Thee  face  to  face"  —  Bishop  W.  W.  How. 

THE  Epistles  and  Gospels  are  the  same,  with  few 
exceptions,  as  in  the  old  English  Use.  Out  of  ninety 
Epistles  only  twenty-one  (and  of  these  only  four  for  Sundays) 
differ  from  that  of  Salisbury;  out  of  ninety  Gospels  only 
five  (and  only  one  for  Sunday)  differ  from  it.1  The  guiding 
principle  of  these  lections  from  Holy  Scripture  is  of  course 
the  teaching  of  the  Christian  Year.  From  Advent  on  to 
Trinity  Sunday  we  have  the  unfolding  of  the  life  of  our  Lord 
in  His  Incarnation,  Birth,  Circumcision,  Manifestation, 
Baptism,  Fasting,  Temptation,  Crucifixion,  Resurrection, 
Ascension,  and  the  sending  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  From 
Trinity  to  Advent  Sunday  the  practical  side  of  the  Christian 

1  The  liturgical  independence  of  the  English  Church  has  here  a  further 
witness  in  the  fact  that  no  less  than  thirty-three  Epistles  and  the  same 
number  of  Gospels  are  different  from  those  of  the  Roman  Use,  as  follows: 
Both  the  Epistles  and  the  Gospels  for  all  the  Sundays  in  the  Trinity  season 
(26);  the  Epistles  for  the  Third  and  Fourth  in  Advent,  S.  Mark,  S.  James, 
S.  Bartholomew,  S.  Luke,  SS.  Simon  and  Jude  (7);  and  the  Gospels 
for  the  four  Sundays  in  Advent,  Second  in  Lent,  S.  Barnabas,  and  S. 
Bartholomew  (7). 


EPISTLES,  GOSPELS,  SERMON  155 

life  is  illustrated,  as  in  the  earlier  portion  the  life  of  faith  and 
worship  receives  the  chief  emphasis.1 

Readings  from  the  Old  Testament  must  necessarily  have 
been  the  only  lections  possible  in  Divine  Service  until  the 
New  Testament  came  gradually  into  being.  It  is  to  be 
remembered  that  the  Holy  Communion  was  celebrated  for 
twenty  years  before  the  earliest  book  of  the  New  Testament 
was  written,  namely,  the  first  Epistle  of  S.  Paul  to  the 
Thessalonians;  and  probably  a  longer  period  before  the  first 
Gospel  was  written.  The  passages  of  the  Old  Testament 
would  naturally  be  such  as  those  in  which  our  Lord  unfolded 
"all  things  written  in  the  Law,  and  in  the  Prophets,  and 
in  the  Psalms"  concerning  Himself.2  This  "prophetic" 
lection,  as  it  was  called,  continued  for  many  centuries. 
The  Armenian  Liturgy  has  preserved  the  "prophetic" 
lection,  and  that  of  Milan  still  makes  use  of  it  on 
certain  days.3 

The  origin  of  the  Epistle,  which  for  several  centuries  was 
called  the  "Apostle,"4  is  evidently  to  be  found  in  the  in- 
junction of  S.  Paul  that  his  letters  should  be  "read,"  that  is 
publicly,  "in  the  Church." 5  The  immemorial  place  for 
reading  the  Epistle  is  the  south-west  corner  of  the  altar,  and 
from  a  lower  step,  sometimes  from  a  lectern;  and  for  the 
Gospel  the  north-west  corner  {cornu  sinistrum,  or  cornu 
Evangelii),  and  from  an  upper  step.6 

Though  the  Gospels,  at  least  in  their  written  form,  did  not 
come  until  after  the  Church  had  spread  into  Europe,  there  is 
no  extant  liturgy  that  does  not  contain  a  provision  for  a 

1  For  a  full  consideration  of  this  subject,  see  the  Author's  The  Christian 
Tear:  Its  Purpose  and  its  History. 

1  S.  Luke  xxiv,  44.  6  Col.  iv,  16;  1  Thess.  v,  27. 

3  Duchense,  p.  195.  6  Not.  Euch.  VI,  vi,  258. 

4  Scudamore,  Not.  Euch.  VI,  iii,  24. 


i56  PRIMIITVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

Gospel  lection.  It  was  the  custom  of  the  Primitive  Church, 
as  seen. in  the  Apostolical  Constitutions ,  to  sit  at  the  reading 
of  the  Scriptures  (except  the  Gospel),  and  at  the  sermon. 
"To  sit  during  the  Epistle  is  the  ancient  custom,  and  to 
stand  during  the  Gospel.,,1  Kneeling  at  the  Epistle,  which 
has  been  somewhat  practised  of  late,  has  no  good  authority 
anywhere.  In  the  First  Book  of  Edward  (1549)  the  ancient 
custom  of  saying  "Glory  to  Thee,  O  Lord"  {Gloria  Tibi) 
was  continued,  and  though  omitted  from  the  English  Book 
since  1552,  the  tradition  has  been  universally  preserved.  It 
was  restored  to  the  Scottish  Prayer  Book  in  1637,  and  to 
the  American  in  1789.  The  Scottish  Book  has  at  the  end  of 
the  Gospel  the  response,  "Thanks  be  to  Thee,  O  Lord,  for 
this  Thy  glorious  Gospel,"  but  there  was  no  response  in  the 
old  English  liturgies.2  There  is  no  direction  to  say  "Here 
endeth  the  Gospel,"  after  the  example  of  the  ending  of  the 
Epistle,  because  the  Creed  which  immediately  follows  is 
the  continuation  and  the  full  declaration  of  the  Gospel,  of 
which  the  portion  read  is  but  a  fragment.3 

The  proper  Creed  for  the  Holy  Eucharist  is  that  which  is 
called  the  Nicene  from  having  been  drawn  up,  so  far  as  the 
clear  declaration  of  our  Lord's  perfect  Godhead  is  con- 
cerned, at  the  First  General  Council  held  in  Nice  in  Asia 
Minor  in  325.  From  the  beginning  there  had  been  a  brief 
"form  of  sound  words,"  or  "form  of  doctrine,"4  summing  up 
in  simple  language  the  great  fundamental  facts  of  the  Gos- 
pel, and  framed  around  the  three-fold  formula  given  by  our 
Lord  for  the  admission  of  disciples  into  His  sacred  school.5 
The  Nicene  Creed  did  not  add  to  this  belief  in  Father, 

1  Dearmer,  Parsons  Handbook,  p.  199;  Maskell,  And.  Lit.,  p.  50;  Not. 
Eucb.y  248. 

*  Not.  Euch.  264.  4  2  Tim.  i,  13;  Rom.  vi,  17. 

a  Rev.  xiv,  9.  6  S.  Matt,  xxviii,  19. 


EPISTLES,  GOSPELS,  SERMON  157 


Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  but  brought  out  more  clearly  its  mean- 
ing in  opposition  to  the  heresy  of  Arius,  a  priest  of  Alex- 
andria, who  denied  the  true  Godhead  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 
Though  taught  to  all  the  baptized  from  the  earliest  days, 
the  Creed  was  not  formally  introduced  into  the  Liturgy 
until  the  year  471  in  Antioch,  and  until  511  in  Constanti- 
nople. In  Rome  it  was  not  so  used  until  the  first  half  of 
the  eleventh  century.1 

The  custom  of  bowing  at  the  Name  of  Jesus  is  said  to  have 
originated  at  the  Council  of  Nice,  to  emphasize  the  reverence 
due  to  the  Son  of  Man  whose  true  Deity  had  been  despised 
by  Arius.  The  rule  of  bowing  the  head  at  every  mention  of 
this  holy  Name  is  required  by  Canon  18  of  the  Church  of 
England,  "As  it  hath  been  accustomed;  testifying  by  these 
outward  ceremonies  and  gestures  .  .  .  their  due  acknow- 

1  Duchesne,  pp.  84,  172.  For  a  history  of  the  three  forms  of  the  Creed 
see  chap.  xxv. 

The  original  Creed  of  Nice,  or  Nicaea,  ended  with  the  words,  "We  be- 
lieve in  the  Holy  Ghost."  (In  the  acts  of  the  councils  "we"  is  always 
employed,  but  in  the  Greek  liturgies  it  is  the  singular,  "I,"  as  with  us.) 
The  rest  of  the  Creed  was  added  at  the  Second  General  Council  in  Con- 
stantinople in  381,  chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  condemning  the  heresy  of 
Macedonius,  who  denied  the  Divinity  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

The  addition  of  the  words,  "and  from  the  Son,"  commonly  known  as 
"the  Filioque"  from  the  words  in  Latin,  is  said  to  have  been  made  in  the 
Spanish  Church  in  the  fifth  or  sixth  century  in  order  to  guard  some  new 
attempt  to  deny  the  true  Divinity  of  our  Lord.  It  was  finally  inserted  in 
the  Roman  Creed  about  the  year  850,  chiefly,  it  is  said,  through  the  influ- 
ence of  Charlemagne,  to  whom  is  ascribed  the  authorship  of  the  great 
hymn  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  "Veni  Creator  Spiritus."  "It  has  never  been 
accepted  by  the  whole  Church,  and  however  true  the  doctrine  which  it 
sets  forth,  its  introduction  into  the  Creed,  without  sufficient  authority, 
has  been  the  cause  of  the  schism  of  the  Church  of  Christ  into  Eastern  and 
Western  Christendom,  the  most  extensive  division,  and  the  most  lamenta- 
ble occurence  in  ecclesiastical  history"  (F.  E.  Warren,  Pr.  Bk.  Comm.,  p.  20). 


158  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fe?  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


ledgment  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  true  eternal  Son 
of  God,  is  the  only  Saviour  of  the  world."  1 

This  is  the  only  place  where  a  Sermon  is  provided  for. 
In  the  Middle  Ages  sermons  were  only  occasional.  Though 
there  is  no  provision  in  the  Book  for  a  prayer  before  the 
Sermon,  some  form  of  invocation  or  prayer  is  appropriate, 
and  is  customary.  The  fifty-fifth  Canon  of  the  Church  of 
England,  and  the  Scottish  Book  provide  forms  of  a  Bidding 
Prayer  to  be  used  by  preachers.  The  English  form  begins, 
"Ye  shall  pray  for  Christ's  Holy  Catholic  Church,  .  .  .  and 
especially  for  the  Churches  of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ire- 
land." It  then  specifies  rulers  and  magistrates,  clergy  and 
people,  and  concludes  with  the  Lord's  Prayer.  It  is  still 
used  in  cathedrals,  college  chapels,  and  some  parish  churches.2 

1  See  also  S.  Paul's  remarkable  reverence  for  this  Name,  as  pointed 
out  in  the  author's,  "  The  Christian  Tear,  etc.,  pp.  59,  60. 

2  "These  addresses  to  the  people,  or  'biddings,'  called  'Prefaces'  in  the 
Gallican  Liturgies,  are  a  distinct  mark  of  Ephesine  origin."  Warren, 
Lit.  of  Celtic  Churchy  p.  167,  note. 


CHAPTER  XVI 


The  Offertory,  Prayer  for  the  Church,  Exhortation, 
and  Invitation 

"Tby  prayers  and  thine  alms  are  come  up  for  a  memorial  before 
God."  —  Acts  x,  4. 

IN  the  Primitive  Church  there  was  no  such  thing  as  a 
pewed  church  building.  All  the  support  of  the  Clergy, 
the  care  of  the  poor,  and  of  buildings,  came  from  the  volun- 
tary offerings  of  the  people,  and  "the  altar,"  according  to 
our  Lord's  command  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,1  was 
naturally  considered  the  most  fitting  place  for  such  gifts. 
In  the  earliest  days  the  opportunity  to  make  an  offering  at 
the  altar  was  a  privilege,  and  only  those  who  were  in  the 
full  communion  of  the  Church  were  allowed  to  do  so.  It 
is  important  to  remember  in  this  connection  that  the  endow- 
ments, glebe  lands,  tithes,  and  invested  funds,  as  well  as  the 
Church  buildings,  in  all  old  Christian  lands,  are  very  rarely 
the  gift  of  the  State.  They  are  the  voluntary  gifts,  for  the 
most  part,  of  the  Church's  own  members,  high  and  low,  rich 
and  poor  alike,  through  many  centuries.  Exactly  the  same 
process  is  going  on  in  new  countries  today,  where  endow- 
ments for  parish,  and  school,  and  college,  and  hospital  are 
being  created  by  the  voluntary  offerings  of  Christian  people.2 
An  essential  part  of  the  Offertory  (which  is  correctly 
applied  also  to  the  sentences  said  or  sung  at  this  part  of  the 
service)  consists  of  the  bread  and  wine  for  the  Holy  Com- 

1  S.  Matt.,  v,  23,  24. 

8  See  the  author's  Gospel  in  the  Churchy  Senior  Grade,  p.  221,  for  the 
character  of  endowments  in  the  Church  of  England. 


i6o  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


munion.  To  the  latter  of  these  a  little  water  is  usually  added, 
according  to  primitive  custom,  though  no  direction  is  given 
in  the  Prayer  Book.1  Concerning  the  wine  it  ought  to  be 
unnecessary  to  say  that  unfermented  juice  of  the  grape,  or 
"must,"  has  never  been  regarded  as  wine.  It  is  an  assured 
fact  that  what  is  called  wine  among  the  Jews  was  a  fermented 
product.2  The  learned  Jewish  Christian,  Dr.  Edersheim, 
writing  to  Canon  Bright  in  1882,  quotes  from  the  Talmud  in 
proof  of  his  assertion  that  "the  wine  used  at  the  Paschal 
Supper  was  undoubtedly  fermented  and  intoxicating.  .  .  . 
In  fact,  to  avoid  intoxication,  the  Paschal  wine  was  almost 
always  'mixed'  (as  was  the  common  custom  in  drinking 
wine),  the  ordinary  proportion  being  two  parts  of  water  to 
one  of  wine,  .  .  .  strong  wine  in  that  of  three  parts 
water.  .  .  .  Still  further,  to  show  that  the  natural  fermen- 
tation could  not  possibly  be  ranked  with  leaven,  the  principle 
is  distinctly  laid  down  in  the  Talmud  that  'the  juice  of  the 
fruit  does  not  produce  leavening/ " 

This  "fruit  of  the  vine,"  3  moreover,  has  been  the  universal 
use  of  the  Church  from  the  beginning.  No  other  product  of 
the  grape  than  one  with  the  necessary  amount  of  alcohol 
could  be  available  in  every  climate  and  for  "all  nations," 
as  our  Lord  meant  it  to  be.  This  fact  has  also  a  direct  bear- 
ing on  "all"  receiving  from  one  cup,  as  did  the  Apostles  in 
the  Upper  Room.  Our  Lord  was  assuredly  aware  of  the  an- 
tiseptic character  of  wine,  as  testified,  if  need  be,  by  His 

1  The  mixing  of  water  with  the  wine,  though  not  as  a  ceremonial  act, 
was  pronounced  lawful  in  the  trial  of  Bishop  King  of  Lincoln  in  1890. 
The  Scottish  Book  has  the  following  rubric;  "It  is  customary  to  mix  a 
little  pure  water  with  the  wine  in  the  eucharistic  Cup." 

2  The  following  references  out  of  many  show  this  beyond  a  question; 
Gen.  ix,  24;  xlix,  12;  2  Sam.  xiii,  28;  Prov.  xx,  1;  Eph.  v,  18;  1  Pet.  iv,  3. 

3  S.  Mark  xiv,  25. 


OFFERTORY,  EXHORTATION,  tfc  161 


parable  of  the  Good  Samaritan,1  and  the  thought  was  doubt- 
less in  His  mind  when  He  first  administered  it  to  all  from  a 
common  cup.  This  has  special  significance  for  the  Clergy, 
who  are  much  more  exposed  to  infection  than  the  laity,  inas- 
much as  they  are  obliged  to  consume  what  remains  in  the 
cup  after  all  have  drunk.  Nevertheless  it  is  a  well  assured 
fact,  as  every  insurance  actuary  can  testify,  that  the  Clergy 
have  the  highest  longevity  of  any  class  or  profession. 

There  are  doubtless  cases,  however,  as  in  epidemics  of 
infectious  disease,  where  "intinction,"  or  the  dipping  of  a 
portion  of  the  consecrated  Bread  into  the  wine,  might  be 
employed,  as  is  the  use  of  the  Oriental  Churches.  In  any 
case,  the  novel  and  utterly  irreverent  method  of  "individual 
cups,"  in  contravention  of  our  Lord's  action  in  the  Upper 
Room,  and  of  the  custom  of  nineteen  centuries,  and  in 
destruction  of  the  symbolism  of  the  single  cup,  is  wholly 
unnecessary.2 

As  to  the  kind  of  bread  to  be  used,  the  First  Book  explicitly 
required  "unleavened  bread."  The  present  English  Book,  in 
one  of  the  final  rubrics,  declares  that  "bread  such  as  is  usual 
to  be  eaten  shall  suffice."  In  other  words,  this  is  the  mini- 
mum, but  whatever  is  used,  it  is  declared,  must  be  "the 
best  and  purest  wheat  bread  that  conveniently  may  be 
gotten."  It  is  unquestioned  that  thin  unleavened  bread  was 
the  kind  in  which  our  Lord  instituted  the  Holy  Eucharist. 
As  the  Passover  was  the  Feast  of  Unleavened  Bread,  when  all 
leaven  was  commanded  to  be  put  away,3  no  other  bread  was 
possible  to  a  loyal  Jew.  The  use  of  unleavened,  or  "wafer" 
bread  4  is  therefore  only  following  the  example  of  Christ. 

1  S.  Luke  x,  34. 

2  For  ancient  methods  of  administration  see  Bingham,  XV,  v. 

3  Ex.  xii,  15;  xiii,  7. 

4  Ex.  xxix,  2. 


162  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


Other  reasons  for  its  use  are  the  fact  that  it  is  less  liable  to 
crumble,  and  that  it  is  always  ready,  not  being  subject  to 
decay  like  ordinary  bread.1 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  rubric,  with  good  reason,  and 
according  to  ancient  usage,  distinctly  requires  that  the  ele- 
ments are  not  to  be  placed  on  the  altar  until  after  the  alms 
have  been  placed  there.  One  evident  purpose  of  this  is  to 
give  opportunity  for  their  preparation  at  the  Credence  while 
the  alms  are  being  collected.  There  is  no  mention  of  this 
table  or  shelf  in  the  Prayer  Book,  but  some  such  receptacle 
is  implied  of  necessity.  Its  usual  place  is  on  the  south  side 
of  the  chancel.2 

The  position  of  the  "  Prayer  for  the  Whole  State  of 
Christ's  Church  Militant,"  which  is  equivalent  to  the 
"Great  Intercession"  found  in  every  known  Liturgy,  varies  in 
different  offices.  In  the  East  its  usual  place  is  after  the 
Prayer  of  Consecration.  "In  the  Roman  Liturgy  it  occurs 
partly  before  and  partly  after  the  Words  of  Institution.  In  the 
ancient  Gallican  and  Mozarabic  Liturgies  it  occurred  in  the 
same  position  which  it  now  occupies  in  the  Anglican  Liturgy."3 

1  Among  Lutherans  and  Moravians  the  use  of  common  bread  would  be 
regarded  as  the  height  of  irreverence.  Among  the  Scotch-Irish  Presby- 
terians the  use  lingered  even  after  their  transplantation  to  America.  Mrs. 
Earle  notes  in  her  work  on  "The  Sabbath  in  Puritan  New  England" 
(p.  122),  that  the  custom  continued  in  the  Londonderry  settlement  in  New 
Hampshire  during  the  17th  century,  where  "thin  cakes  of  unleavened 
bread  were  specially  prepared  for  this  sacred  service."  In  the  Oriental 
Church  the  bread  is  leavened,  but  a  special  bread  is  made  carefully  for  the 
purpose. 

2  In  the  Oriental  Church  the  elements  are  prepared  in,  and  brought 
from,  the  Prothesis,  or  Sacristy,  with  a  special  service,  and  this  is  called 
the  Great  Entrance,  in  contradistinction  to  the  bringing  in  of  the  sacred 
books,  which  is  called  the  Little  Entrance. 

*  Warren,  Pr.  Bk.  Comm.  p.  103. 


OFFERTORY,  EXHORTATION,  163 


It  is  as  all-inclusive  as  the  Litany,  and  possesses  inter- 
cessions for  (1)  the  Catholic  Church  and  its  Unity;  (2) 
Christian  Rulers;  (3)  Bishops  and  other  Clergy;  (4)  the 
People;  (5)  the  Afflicted;  (6)  Commemoration  of  the 
Departed.1 

Though  there  is  no  direction  here  for  those  who  do  not  in- 
tend communicating  to  withdraw,  it  has  been  the  unfortunate 
custom  for  great  numbers  not  only  of  non-communicants 
but  of  communicants  to  leave  the  church  after  this  prayer 
just  when  the  service  is  about  to  rise  to  its  highest  point. 
Even  loud  organ  music,  which  has  been  well  named  by  Bishop 
Cleveland  Coxe,  the  "soul  dirge,''  has  been  employed  to 
cover  (and  encourage)  their  withdrawal.  This  custom  happily 

1  In  all  the  Primitive  Liturgies  there  was  here  a  distinct  prayer  for  the 
Faithful  Departed,  such  as  that  found  on  page  65.  It  was  owing  to  the 
extreme  perversion  of  this  unquestionably  Scriptural  and  Primitive  prac- 
tice in  mediaeval  days,  when  the  greater  part  of  the  Intermediate  State 
was  turned  into  an  "abbreviated  hell"  called  Purgatory,  that  direct  prayer 
for  the  rest,  peace,  progress  and  refreshment  of  the  faithful  departed  was 
unwisely  omitted,  and  the  words  "militant  herein  earth"  inserted  in  1552. 
(They  are  omitted  in  the  Scottish  Book.)  In  the  first  Post-Communion 
Prayer  of  the  English  Book  (which  is  part  of  the  Consecration  in  the  first 
Book  of  Edward,  the  Scottish,  and  the  American  Books)  prayer  for  the 
Faithful  Departed  is  definite  and  real  in  the  petition  that  "we  and  all 
Thy  whole  Church  may  obtain  remission  of  our  sins,  and  all  other  benefits 
of  His  Passion."  Concerning  this  clause,  Bishop  Cosin,  one  of  the  most 
learned  members  of  the  committee  of  revision  in  1661,  wrote,  "  By  '  all  the 
whole  Church'  is  to  be  understood  as  well  those  that  have  been  hereto- 
fore and  those  that  shall  be  hereafter  as  well  as  those  that  are  now  the 
present  members  of  it."  For  a  somewhat  full  discussion  of  this  question 
see  the  author's  Some  Purposes  of  Paradise,  pp.  67-75.  The  Russian  Metro- 
politan being  asked  by  Dr.  Ingram,  Bishop  of  London,  what  struck  Rus- 
sian Churchmen  as  the  chief  defect  of  Anglicans,  replied,  "We  marvel  at 
the  way  you  English  people  forget  your  dead  —  by  far  the  largest  part 
of  the  Church.  Our  children  are  taught  to  think  of  their  dear  parents 
as  living  in  the  next  room." 


i64  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


is  becoming  less  frequent.  In  primitive  days  when  the 
Church  was  in  the  midst  of  heathen,  the  catechumens  not 
yet  admitted  to  Holy  Baptism  were  required  to  depart  at 
an  earlier  part  of  the  service.  When  this  rule  ceased  to  be 
enforced  the  custom  was  for  those  who  did  not  communicate 
to  remain  until  the  actual  Communion  of  the  people  began, 
and  then  to  withdraw  during  the  singing  of  Communion 
antiphons  by  the  choir.1  This  surely  is  a  custom  well  worthy 
of  consideration  as  the  lesser  of  two  evils.  It  would  at  least 
avoid  the  unseemly  confusion  of  withdrawal  at  the  moment 
when  it  jars  on  every  reverent  mind,  while  the  effect  would 
be  almost  entirely  neutralized  if  done  when  communicants 
begin  to  approach  the  chancel. 

This,  however,  is  by  no  means  intended  as  an  encourage- 
ment of  the  notion  of  some  quasi  sacramental  virtue  in  what 
is  called  "non-communicating  attendance."  It  is  rather  in 
order  that  those  who  remain,  "before  whose  eyes  Jesus 
Christ  is  openly  set  forth  crucified"  2  may  be  led  on  by  the 
attractive  power  and  persuasion  of  the  service  to  partake 
of  the  Divine  Food,  as  well  as  to  plead  the  atoning  Sacrifice. 
"Was  there  a  Passover  heard  of,"  writes  Bishop  Andrewes, 
"and  the  lamb  not  eaten?  Time  was  when  he  was  thought 
no  good  Christian,  that  thought  he  might  do  one  without 
the  other,  no  celebremus  without  epulemur."  3 

Two  "Warnings"  for  Communion  are  placed  here  in  the 
English  Book,  but  were  removed  to  the  end  of  the  Office  of 
the  American  Book  in  1892.  The  "Exhortation"  to  Com- 
munion which  follows  has,  in  several  sentences,  a  remarkable 
similarity  to  a  form  used  in  the  earlier  days  of  the  English 

1  See  Duchesne,  p.  187. 
*  Gal.  iii,  1,  R.  V. 

3  Sermons,  II,  298-9.  Concerning  the  bearing  of  fasting  Comrr anion 
upon  this  question  see  pp.  191,  sq.. 


OFFERTORY,  EXHORTATION,  tfc  165 


Church,  beginning  "Good  men  and  women,  y  charge  you  by 
the  Auctoryte  of  holy  churche."  1 

The  Invitation  (as  it  is  called  in  the  Scottish  service), 
"Ye  that  do  truly,  etc,"  is  really  part  of  the  Exhortation 
immediately  before  the  celebration,  and  may  be  regarded 
as  a  substitute  for  the  ancient  "Kiss  of  Peace,"  as  in  the 
Liturgies,  or  "Holy  Kiss,"  or  "Kiss  of  Charity,"  as  in  the 
Epistles.2  The  Clementine  Liturgy  says:  "Let  the  Deacon 
say  to  all,  '  Salute  one  another  with  a  holy  kiss;  and  let  them 
of  the  Clergy  salute  the  Bishop;  the  laymen,  laymen;  the 
women,  women.'  .  .  .  The  ancient  custom  appears  to  have 
been  well  kept  up  in  the  West  until  the  thirteenth  century, 
when  we  first  read  of  an  instrument  \_deosculatorium\  which, 
after  being  kissed  by  the  Priest,  and  the  Deacon  after  him, 
was  by  the  latter  handed  to  the  Communicants  who  thus,  in 
another  manner,  expressed  their  mutual  love,  viz.,  by  all 
kissing  the  same  thing."  3  The  ancient  "Kiss  of  Peace" 
occupied  the  same  place,  before  the  Sursum  Corda,  as  it  does 
at  present.4 

1  Maskell,  Mon.  Rit.,  348,  349.  It  is  important  to  observe  that  the 
"warnings"  are  not  "notices."  The  place  for  the  "notice"  is  provided 
for  immediately  after  the  Creed.  In  the  English  Book  the  "warning"  is 
to  be  read  "after  the  sermon."  As  the  Holy  Eucharist  is  the  normal  service 
for  every  Lord's  Day  at  the  least,  it  is  not  intended  that  either  "notice" 
or  "warning"  should  be  given  every  Sunday,  but  only  "if  occasion  be," 
as  is  said  in  the  rubric  after  the  Creed.  See  Dearmer,  Parson  s  Handbook, 
PP-  3*7>  318,  and  Blunt,  Ann.  Pr.  Bk.>  p.  176.  So  full  and  clear,  however, 
is  the  teaching  of  these  warnings  concerning  the  Holy  Sacrament,  and  the 
necessary  preparation  for  it,  that  one  or  other  might  well  be  read  before 
the  three  great  feasts. 

2  Rom.  xvi,  16;  1  Cor.  xvi,  20;  1  Peter  v,  14. 

3  Scudamore,  Not.  Euch.,  pp.  497,  501. 

4  The  mistaken  interpretation  of  this  Invitation  which  would  make  it 
apply  to  all  persons  in  the  congregation  who  are  "in  love  and  charity  with 
their  neighbors,  etc.,"  and  irrespective  of  their  being  confirmed,  is  explicitly 


166  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


contradicted  by  the  rubric  at  the  end  of  the  Confirmation  Office,  which 
says,  "There  shall  none  be  admitted  to  the  Holy  Communion,  until  such 
time  as  he  be  confirmed,  or  be  ready  and  desirous  to  be  confirmed."  The 
same  interpretation  would  logically  include  the  unbaptized,  as  no  mention 
in  the  Invitation  is  made  of  Baptism  any  more  than  of  Confirmation.  The 
plea  that  the  rubric  in  the  Confirmation  service  was  adopted  in  1281  by 
Archbishop  Peckham  of  Canterbury  only  goes  to  show  the  sad  "neglect  of  the 
sacrament  of  Confirmation  ...  in  evil  days.  .  .  .  To  cure  this  damnable 
neglect,"  he  adds,  "we  ordain  that  none  be  admitted  to  the  sacrament  of 
the  Lord's  Body  and  Blood  that  is  not  confirmed,  except  at  the  point  of 
death,  unless  he  have  a  reasonable  impediment."  So  far  from  this  showing 
that  Confirmation  was  "an  informal  service,"  and  one  of  many  "mediaeval 
ceremonies,"  it  clearly  sets  it  on  the  high  position  which  Holy  Scripture 
and  the  whole  Catholic  Church  give  it,  namely,  as  the  completion  of  Holy 
Baptism,  the  instrument  appointed  by  our  Lord  for  the  "receiving  of  the 
Holy  Ghost"  in  all  His  fulness  by  penitent  and  believing  souls,  and  one  of 
the  six  "foundations,"  or  "principles  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ"  (Acts  viii, 
15,  16;  xix,  2,  etc.;  Heb.  vi,  1,  2).  This  does  not  imply  that  every  devout 
Christian,  unconfirmed  through  ignorance  or  prejudice  or  lack  of  oppor- 
tunity, is  under  all  circumstances  to  be  rejected  from  the  Holy  Communion. 
We  may  well  rejoice  that  "the  pure  river  of  water  of  Life"  overflows  its 
banks,  and  that  "the  cup  of  blessing  which  we  bless,"  "runneth  over,"  to 
those  who  are,  as  an  old  Father  of  the  Church  expressed  it,  of  the  soul  of 
the  Church,  though  not  externally  of  its  body  (Rev.  xxii,  Ij  1  Cor.  x,  16; 
Ps.  xxiii,  5). 

It  is  told  of  Bishop  Samuel  Wilberforce  that  he  once  asked  an  Irish 
maidservant  if  she  thought  he,  a  heretic  from  the  Roman  point  of  view, 
could  possibly  enter  Heaven,  and  she  replied,  "Certainly,  your  lordship." 
When  he  asked  her  how  could  that  be,  she  promptly  answered,  much  to 
the  amusement  of  the  Bishop,  but  with  sound  theology  and  common  sense, 
"By  your  invincible  ignorance,  my  lord"!  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  for 
177  years  (1607-1784)  no  Churchman  in  the  English  colonies,  now  the 
United  States,  was  able  to  receive  Confirmation,  and  yet,  if  otherwise 
fitted,  he  was  admitted  to  the  Holy  Communion.  See  also  chap.  xxx. 


CHAPTER  XVII 


Confession,  Absolution,  Comfortable  Words 

"  Each  morn  and  eve,  the  Golden  Keys, 
Are  lifted  in  the  sacred  hand, 
To  show  the  sinner  on  his  knees 

Where  heaven  s  bright  doors  wide  open  stand. 

On  the  dread  altar  duly  laid 

The  Golden  Keys  their  witness  bear, 
That  not  in  vain  the  Church  hath  prayed, 

That  He,  the  Life  of  Souls,  is  there."  —  Keble. 

IN  the  First  Book  the  Confession  and  Absolution  were 
placed  immediately  before  the  Communion  of  the  people, 
but  the  present  place  is  manifestly  better  inasmuch  as  it  is 
a  preparation  not  only  for  Communion,  but  also  for  the 
Consecration,  Oblation,  and  Intercession.  In  the  old  Eng- 
lish, as  in  the  Roman  Liturgy,  there  was  a  confession  (the 
Confiteor),  "first  prescribed,  so  far  as  appears,  by  the  Council 
of  Ravenna  in  13 14."  But  this  is  only  a  mutual  confession 
by  the  Priest  and  his  assistants  to  each  other,  and  a  mutual 
prayer  for  pardon.  "It  may  appear  singular  that  there  was 
no  Confession  to  be  said  by  all  the  people  in  the  mediaeval 
Liturgies;  but  not  to  mention  the  obstacle  arising  from  the 
use  of  the  Latin  language,  we  must  remember  that  the  laity 
communicated  rarely;  and  that,  when  they  did  so,  their 
Communion  was  generally  preceded  by  an  act  of  private 
Confession  to  the  Priest."  1 

It  is  well  known  that  there  was  no  compulsory  confession 
to  a  Priest  anywhere  in  the  Church  in  early  days,  as  a  con- 
1  Scudamore,  Not.  Euch.,  pp.  510,  511. 


1 68  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


dition  of  Communion.  Even  heinous  offences  were  required 
to  be  confessed  in  public,  and  the  custom  was  continued  until 
it  was  found  to  be  the  occasion  of  needless  scandal.  Auricular 
confession  to  a  priest  in  private  (literally,  to  the  ear)  was  only- 
made  obligatory  in  the  Western  Church  by  the  fourth  Lat- 
eran  (Roman)  Council  in  121 5.  It  is  not  the  rule  today,  and 
never  has  been,  in  the  Oriental  Churches  of  Greece,  Russia, 
Armenia,  etc. 

Our  present  rule  is  simply  a  return  to  the  primitive  custom 
of  voluntary  confession  to  a  Priest  in  a  case  of  necessity.1 
The  first  "Warning"  in  the  English  Book  does  not  forbid 
such  private  confession,  and  private  absolution,  but  says, 
"And  because  it  is  requisite  that  no  man  should  come  to 
the  Holy  Communion  but  with  a  full  trust  in  God's  mercy, 
and  with  a  quiet  conscience;  therefore  if  there  be  any  of 
you,  who  by  this  means  [self  examination]  cannot  quiet 
his  own  conscience  therein  but  requireth  further  comfort 
or  counsel,  let  him  come  to  me,  or  to  some  other  discreet 
and  learned  Minister  of  God's  Word  and  open  his  grief; 
that,  by  the  ministry  of  God's  holy  Word,  he  may  receive  the 
benefit  of  absolution,  together  with  ghostly  counsel  and 
advice,  to  the  quieting  of  his  conscience,  and  avoiding  of 
all  scruple  and  doubtfulness."  Concerning  this  Mr.  Blunt 
writes:  "One  of  the  most  remarkable  of  the  peculiar  features 
of  the  Anglican  Communion  Offices  is  the  anxious  careful- 
ness shown  by  the  Church  to  ensure  that  communicants 
shall  approach  the  Lord's  Table  after  due  preparation  and 
with  right  dispositions.  The  mixture  of  grave  warning 
and  tender  encouragement  in  this  Service  is  indeed  truly 

1  Speaking  of  private  confession  as  a  habit,  Mr.  Baring-Gould  says,  "It 
enfeebles  the  moral  fibre,  and  makes  weak  natures  become  weaker  ...  I 
have  often  enough  heard  young  Romanists  talk  of  being  'whitewashed'" 
{The  Church  Revival,  p.  306). 


CONFESSION,  ABSOLUTION,  tfc  169 


wonderful.  There  is  nothing  like  it  in  the  Offices  of  any 
other  Communion."  1 

The  Absolution,  which  is  the  same  as  that  in  both  the 
First  and  Second  Books,  is  taken,  with  a  slight  change, 
from  the  prayer  of  the  assisting  "  Ministers  "  for  the  abso- 
lution of  the  Celebrant  after  he  has  said  the  Confiteor  in  the 
old  English  Use.  "Authority  thus  to  remit  sin,  as  to  exercise 
in  other  ways  'the  Ministry  of  Reconciliation',2  is  derived 
from  the  original  grant  of  our  Blessed  Lord  to  the  first  rulers 
of  His  Church:  —  'Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost.  Whose 
soever  sins  ye  remit,  they  are  remitted  unto  them;  and 
whose  soever  sins  ye  retain,  they  are  retained/3  The  Priest 
is  acting  on  this  commission  whenever,  as  the  guardian  of 
any  spiritual  privilege  [for  instance,  the  'one  Baptism  for 
the  remission  of  sins,'  as  in  the  Nicene  Creed,  and  Acts  ii. 
38],  he  imparts  it  to  one  whom  he  deems  worthy,  and  denies 
it  to  another  whom  he  deems  unworthy."4 

1  Ann.  Pr.  Bk.>  p.  179.  Liddon  says  of  Dr.  Pusey,  "Neither  now  [1844], 
nor  at  any  other  time  in  his  life,  did  he  treat  the  practice  of  private  con- 
fession as  a  matter  of  absolute  obligation  on  the  part  of  anyone.  Besides, 
he  had  extreme  difficulties  in  his  own  case.  He  was  so  overwhelmed  with 
the  consciousness  of  his  sins  that  he  shrunk  from  making  a  confessor  of 
one  of  those  friends  with  whom  he  was  associated  in  common  work,  and 
outside  this  circle,  there  was  no  one  whom  he  could  choose  as  a  spiritual 
guide."  Life  of  Pusey,  III,  p.  96.  The  American  Prayer  Book  alone  omits 
"that  by  the  ministry  of  God's  holy  Word  he  may  receive  the  benefit  of 
absolution,"  but  in  view  of  our  Lord's  solemn  words,  which  are  repeated 
over  the  Priest  at  his  ordination,  omission  in  this  case  does  not  necessarily 
mean  prohibition.  The  Scottish  and  Irish  Books  retain  the  words. 

2  2  Cor.  v,  18. 

3  S.  John  xx,  22,  23. 

4  Scudamore,  Not.  Eucbar.,  p.  515.   See  also  chaps,  xxxiii  and  xxxvi. 
Archbishop  Bramhall  (of. Armagh,  1660-1663)  says  the  power  of  "the 

Keys  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven"  (S.  Matt,  xvi,  19),  to  loose  or  bind,  is 
exercised  in  many  ways:  "By  Baptism,  by  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's 


170  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

"There  is  somehow  an  idea,"  writes  Mr.  Sadler,  "that 
even  a  delegated  and  conditional  power  of  Absolution  is 
too  sacred  a  matter  to  be  exercised  by  man;  but  when  we 
attentively  consider  it,  is  it  one  whit  more  difficult  to  ap- 
prehend that  man  can  absolve  than  that  man  can  administer 
the  Lord's  Supper?  .  .  .  Is  it  one  whit  more  easy  to  believe 
that  one  man  can  be  the  instrument,  in  God's  hands,  of 
communicating  to  another  that  inward  part,  to  which  the 
Saviour  applies  such  terms  as  His  Body  and  His  Blood, 
than  to  believe  that  the  same  man  can,  in  the  Name  of  the 
same  Omnipresent  Saviour,  and  by  the  use  of  certain  words, 
make  his  penitent  fellow-sinner  a  partaker  of  the  Atone- 
ment purchased  by  the  breaking  of  that  Body  of  Christ,  and 
the  shedding  of  His  Blood?  .  .  .  But  it  has  been  objected 
that  the  Apostles  had  this  power  conferred  upon  them 
because  they  had  the  power  of  'discerning  spirits,'  and  that 
the  latter  gift  is  necessary  to  the  right  exercise  of  Absolu- 

Supper,  by  Prayer,  by  preaching  the  Word  of  Reconciliation,  by  special 
Absolution:  'Whose  sins  ye  remit  they  are  remitted.'  .  .  .  God  remits 
sovereignly,  imperially,  primitively,  absolutely;  the  Priest's  power  is 
derivative,  delegate,  dependent,  ministerial,  conditional."  {Protestants' 
Ordination  Defended,  V.  213,  in  Anglo-Catholic  Library.) 

Concerning  this  "power  and  commandment  to  His  Ministers  to  declare 
and  pronounce  to  His  people,  being  penitent,  the  Absolution  and  Remission 
of  their  sins"  (see  the  Absolution  in  Morning  and  Evening  Prayer),  Bishop 
Brownell  of  Connecticut  (1819-1865),  in  his  comments  upon  the  Ordinal 
in  his  "Family  Prayer  Book,"  quotes  Archbishop  Seeker  (1693-1768)  as 
follows:  "This  power,  being  bestowed  for  the  edification  of  the  Church, 
must  be  restrained,  not  only  by  general  rules  of  order,  but  according  to 
particular  exigencies  of  circumstances.  But  how  little  soever  exerted,  the 
power  is  inherent  in  the  office  of  priesthood.  And  though  we  are  no  more 
infallible  in  our  proceedings  and  sentences  than  temporal  judges  are  in 
theirs,  yet  our  acts  as  well  as  theirs  are  to  be  respected  as  done  by  com- 
petent authority.  And  if  they  are  done  on  good  grounds  also,  'Whatsoever 
we  bind  or  loose  on  earth  will  be  bound  or  loosed  in  heaven.' " 


CONFESSION,  ABSOLUTION,  tfc  171 


tion.  But  they  who  say  this  totally  mistake  the  nature 
and  intent  of  this  gift.  ...  It  appears  to  me  little  short  of 
blasphemy  to  suppose  that  this  'discerning  of  spirits'  was 
a  'discerning  of  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart'; 
for  this  latter  is,  throughout  Scripture,  ascribed  to  God 
only,  as  one  of  His  incommunicable  attributes;  and  yet  we 
find  that  good  men  scruple  not  to  ascribe  this  divine  power 
to  the  Apostles,  in  order  to  avoid  granting  to  their  succes- 
sors a  power  of  absolution,  on  the  very  face  of  it  delegated, 
ministerial,  subordinate,  and  conditional.  .  .  .  The  person 
who  absolved,  absolved  not  infalliby  as  a  judge,  but  con- 
ditionally as  a  servant  or  minister  .  .  .  always  referring  the 
ratification  of  his  act  to  the  Searcher  of  hearts"  1 

The  Comfortable  Words  with  which  the  Preparation, 
or  Pro-Anaphora,  ends  are  peculiar  to  the  revised  English 
Liturgy,  and  need  no  apology.  They  are  a  very  beautiful 
enrichment,  such  as  the  wisdom  and  devotion  of  other 
revisions  throughout  the  centuries  have  given  to  this  highest 
office  of  the  Church's  worship.  The  words  of  S.  John  that 
tell  of  the  scene  before  the  throne  in  Heaven,  and  the  "Ad- 
vocate with  the  Father,  Jesus  Christ  the  Righteous,"  the 
Eternal  "Propitiation  for  our  sins,"  is  surely  a  wonderfully 
fitting  close  to  the  act  of  preparation,  and  an  equally  fitting 
prelude  to  the  exclamation  which  forms  the  beginning  of 
the  Anaphora,  Canon,  or  essential  part  of  every  great  Lit- 
urgy in  the  world,  namely,  the  Sursum  Corday  "Lift  up  your 
hearts,"  with  its  response,  "We  lift  them  up  unto  the  Lord."2 

1  Church  Doctrine  Bible  Truth,  pp.  234  sq. 

2  The  only  two  exceptions  where  the  Sursum  Corda  is  absent  are  two 
Liturgies  of  no  special  note,  namely,  the  Syro-Jacobite  of  S.  Chrysostom 
and  of  John  of  Antioch.  For  the  bearing  of  this  minor  but  most  striking 
feature  on  the  Apostolic  origin  of  all  the  Liturgies,  see  The  Christian  Year, 

p.  37. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 


The  Celebration:  Anaphora  or  Canon 

"  Whene'er  I  seek  the  Holy  Altar  s  rail, 

And  kneel  to  take  the  grace  there  offered  me, 
It  is  no  time  to  task  my  reason  frail, 

To  try  Christ's  words,  and  search  how  they  may  be; 
Enough,  I  eat  His  Flesh  and  drink  His  Blood, 
More  is  not  told  —  to  ask  it  is  not  good."  —  Newman. 


'HE  Sursum  Corda  marks  the  beginning  of  the  actual 


1  celebration  of  the  mystery  which  our  Lord  ordained 
as  His  perpetual  memorial,  and  for  the  spiritual  food  of 
His  people.  Here  therefore  is  the  keynote  of  the  whole 
service.  It  is  not  merely  a  Communion  whereby  each  sepa- 
rate soul  may  feed  on  the  spiritual  food  of  Christ's  Body 
and  Blood,  though  that  in  itself  is  one  of  the  marvelous 
and  blessed  gifts  of  the  Sacrament.  It  is  infinitely  more 
than  a  mere  token  of  communion  and  fellowship  between 
Christian  brethren,  one  with  another;  though  that  also  is 
true.  It  is,  first  of  all,  the  great  act  of  the  whole  body  of 
the  Church  in  thanksgiving  (eucharistia),  adoration,  and 
intercession  with  the  Father,  in  union  with  Him  of  whom 
we  are  "branches"  and  "members",1  and  who  is  our  Eternal 
Advocate,  and  "the  Propitiation  for  our  sins."  For  it  is 
to  be  noted  that  throughout  the  whole  service  no  prayer  is 
addressed  to  the  Son,  or  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  but  to  the 
Father  only.  We  have  here  at  the  outset,  if  we  but  heed 
it,  the  correction  of  the  too  prevalent  error  of  regarding  the 
service  merely  as  a  "Communion."    It  brings  us  at  once, 

1  S.  John  xv,  5;  Eph.  v,  30. 


THE  ANAPHORA  OR  CANON  173 


after  due  preparation  of  confession  and  absolution,  into  the 
very  courts  of  that  Heaven  which  Christ  has  "opened  to  all 
believers, "  and  in  union  with  "Angels,  and  Archangels, 
and  all  the  Company  of  Heaven. " 

"Back  to  Christ"  is  a  good  watchword  of  our  day  when 
rightly  understood  as  a  call  to  the  study  and  imitation  of 
Him  as  revealed  in  the  New  Testament  story.  But  better 
still  is  that  which  we  find  here  so  deeply  imbedded  in  all 
the  liturgies  of  the  world:  "Up  to  Christ!  Lift  up  your 
hearts  to  Him.  Behold  Him  still  pleading  for  us  'in  the 
midst  of  the  throne,'1  mighty  to  save  to  the  uttermost  all 
who  come  to  Him  in  penitence  and  love."  It  was  the 
watchword  of  S.  Stephen,  and  of  every  true  believer  after 
him:  "Behold,  I  see  the  heavens  opened,  and  the  Son  of 
Man  standing  at  the  right  hand  of  God." 

The  Seraphic  Hymn,  or  Tersanctus,  usually  followed 
by  the  Benedictus  qui  venit  {Blessed  is  He  that  cometb, 
etc.)  has  its  place  here  in  all  the  ancient  liturgies.  The 
corresponding  Greek  word  is  Trisagion  which,  like  the 
Latin  Tersanctus,  means  Thrice  Holy.  We  have  here 
one  other  reminiscence  of  the  Temple  service  (in  addition 
to  one  in  the  Lord's  Prayer),  where  the  third  of  the  Eighteen 
Benedictions  recited  in  the  Temple  daily,  is  as  follows:  — 
"Hallowed  be  Thy  Name  on  earth  as  it  is  hallowed  in  heaven 
above,  as  it  is  written  by  the  prophet,  And  one  calls  to  the 
other,  and  says  —  Holy,  Holy,  Holy,  is  the  Lord  God  of 
Sabaoth;  the  whole  earth  is  filled  with  His  glory."  2  It  is 
preceded  on  certain  festivals  by  what  are  called  Proper 
Prefaces,  which  connect  it  with  the  course  of  the  Christian 
Year.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  only  five  of  these  Prefaces 
(for  Christmas,  Easter,  Ascension  Day,  Whitsunday,  and 
Trinity  Sunday),  were  retained  in  our  various  revisions. 

1  Rev.  v,  6.        2  Warren,  Lit.  and  Rit.  Ante-Nicene  Churchy  p.  195. 


174  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP     THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


The  old  English  use  had  in  addition  Proper  Prefaces  for  the 
Epiphany,  Ash-Wednesday,  the  Annunciation,  the  feasts 
of  the  Apostles  and  Evangelists,  and  some  minor  festival 
days.  Some  of  these  might  well  be  restored  in  any  future 
revision.1 

The  American  Prayer  Book  has  an  alternate  form  for 
Trinity  Sunday,  while  retaining  "Holy  Father"  in  the  in- 
troduction, as  follows:  "For  the  precious  death  and  merits 
of  Thy  Son,  Jesus  Christ,  our  Lord,  and  for  the  sending  to 
us  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Comforter;  who  are  one  with 
Thee  in  Thy  Eternal  Godhead. "  This  may  have  been  in- 
troduced in  1789  on  account  of  the  somewhat  ambiguous 
language  of  the  first  Preface,  evidently  the  result  of  a  print- 
er's error,  the  substitution  of  "or"  for  "of,"  which,  like 
the  similar  error  of  "straining  at  3.  gnat"  instead  of  "strain- 
ing out"  in  our  Authorized  Version  of  S.  Matt,  xxiii,  24, 
our  ultra  conservatism  has  forbidden  us  to  correct  ever 
since  1549.2 

1  The  Scottish  Book  has  additional  Proper  Prefaces  for  the  Epiphany, 
the  Purification,  the  Annunciation,  Feasts  of  Apostles  and  Evangelists, 
All  Saints'  Day,  the  Consecration  of  Bishops,  the  Ordination  of  Priests 
and  Deacons,  the  Dedication  of  a  Church,  and  the  Anniversary. 

2  The  Latin  of  the  Sarum  Use,  which  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  Sacra- 
mentary  of  Gelasius  (a.d.  494),  is  "Quod  enim  de  Tua  gloria  revelante  Te 
credimus;  hoc  de  Filio  Tuo,  hoc  de  Spiritu  Sancto  sine  differentia  discretionis 
sentimus"  which  is  manifestly  "without  difference  of  inequality,"  that  is, 
without  such  difference  as  would  constitute  inequality.  For  difference 
there  is  unquestionably,  as  there  must  necessarily  be  between  the  Three 
Divine  Persons.  All  are  equal  and  "of  the  same  Substance,"  but,  as  the 
Athanasian  Creed  warns  us,  we  must  "neither  confound  the  Persons,  nor 
divide  the  Substance."  Our  continued  mistranslation  of  this  ancient 
Preface  comes  perilously  near  committing  us  to  this  error,  which  it  is  hoped 
a  new  revision  will  correct,  as  the  equally  egregious  printer's  mistake  above 
referred  to  has  already  been  corrected  in  the  Revised  New  Testament.  See 
Blunt,  Am.  Pr.  Bk.,  184,  and  Orig.  Lit.  IV,  xv,  p.  125. 


THE  ANAPHORA  OR  CANON  175 

The  beautiful  Prayer  of  Humble  Access,  as  it  is  called 
in  the  Scottish  Book  ("We  do  not  presume,  etc."),  though 
composed  in  1549,  is  found  in  substance  in  all  the  ancient 
liturgies.  There,  however,  as  in  the  First  Prayer  Book 
of  Edward,  and  in  the  present  Scottish,  it  occupied  a  place 
immediately  before  reception.  While  something  may  be 
said  for  the  change  as  a  fitting  act  of  self  abasement,  recall- 
ing the  confession  of  the  centurion,  "Lord,  I  am  not  worthy 
that  Thou  shouldest  enter  under  my  roof,"  1  and  of  the 
Syrophenician  woman,2  its  presence  here  breaks  the  con- 
tinuity of  that  lofty  act  of  worship  and  adoration  beginning 
with  "Lift  up  your  hearts,"  and  continuing  through  the 
Prayer  of  Consecration.3 

The  Prayer  of  Consecration  is  to  be  said  by  the  Priest 
"standing  before  the  Table,"  or,  as  it  was  in  the  First  Book 
of  Edward,  "standing  humbly  afore  the  midst  of  the  altar." 
In  the  First  Book  it  began,  as  we  have  seen,  with  what 
is  now  the  Prayer  for  Christ's  Church  Militant  as  far  as 
"any  other  .adversity,"  followed  by  a  commendation  of 
the  living  and  the  faithful  departed,  and  the  Invocation  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  upon  the  elements  as  in  all  the  ancient 
Liturgies.  The  present  English  Canon  of  Consecration,  fol- 
lowing the  emasculated  one  of  1552,  begins  with  the  address, 
"Almighty  God,  our  heavenly  Father,  who  of  Thy  tender 
mercy  didst  give  Thine  only  Son  Jesus  Christ  to  suffer 
death  upon  the  Cross,  etc.,"  followed  by  a  petition,  faintly 
suggestive  of  the  Invocation,  that  "we  receiving  these 

1  S.  Luke  vii,  6.  2  S.  Mark  vii,  28. 

3  The  two  Houses  of  the  American  General  Convention  in  1889,  and  the 
House  of  Bishops  in  1892,  adopted  the  proposal  of  the  Committee  of  Re- 
vision to  put  this  prayer  in  its  ancient  place,  but  it  failed,  by  the  lack  of  a 
single  vote  of  the  Committee  of  the  whole  in  the  House  of  Clerical  and  Lay 
Deputies,  to  receive  the  required  ratification  of  the  Convention  of  1892. 


176  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


Thy  creatures  of  bread  and  wine,  etc.,  may  be  partakers 
of  His  most  blessed  Body  and  Blood,"  and  ends  with  the 
manual  acts  of  breaking  the  bread,  and  "laying  the  hand 
upon  every  vessel"  etc.,  while  repeating  our  Lord's  words 
of  Institution.  This  may  be  confidently  asserted  to  be  the 
weakest  part  of  all  the  present  English  Book.  While  the 
act  of  consecration,  bald  and  brief  as  it  is,  is  undoubtedly 
valid,  no  precise  words  or  moment  being  fixed  for  conse- 
cration in  the  earliest  liturgies,  it  is  certainly  very  far  from 
the  dignity  and  richness  of  every  ancient  Use. 

In  his  Alliance  of  Divine  Offices,  first  published  in  1659, 
the  learned  Hamon  L'Estrange  called  attention  to  the  singu- 
lar inconsistency  of  the  English  revisers  of  1552  in  actually 
adopting  the  Roman  theory  of  consecration  of  the  Sacra- 
ment by  the  omission  of  the  Invocation  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
on  the  elements.  He  says,  "The  recitation  of  these  words 
(This  is  My  Body,  etc.)  pass  in  the  common  vogue  for  a 
consecration;  were  I  Romishly  inclined,  I  should  rather 
impute  unto  them  the  power  of  transubstantiation,  for  that 
a  bare  narrative  can  be  qualified  to  consecrate  is  certainly 
new  divinity,  unknown  to  Scripture,  and  antiquity  inter- 
preting it".1  For  it  is  a  fact  that  the  Roman  Liturgy,  alone 
among  all  the  great  Liturgies  of  the  world,  is  curiously 
lacking  in  having  no  Invocation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon 
the  elements.  Instead,  it  asks  that  they  may  be  carried 
"by  the  hands  of  Thy  holy  angel  to  Thy  sublime  altar," 
that  thereby  "we  may  receive  the  sacred  Body  and  Blood 
of  Thy  Son,  etc."  Concerning  this  Duchesne  acknowl- 
edges that  "this  prayer  is  far  from  exhibiting  the  precision 
of  the  Greek  formularies."  2 

1  chap,  vii,  K. 

2  Christian  Worship,  p.  181.  See  also  above,  chap,  xii,  p.  123  in 
letter  of  Bishop  Seabury  to  Bishop  White.    Compare  Ffoulkes,  Prim. 


THE  ANAPHORA  OR  CANON  177 


Much  is  lost  to  us  by  regarding  this  Sacrament  merely 
as  a  Communion.  It  is  indeed  that  channel  of  Christ's 
pardon  and  grace  which  has  been  aptly  termed  by  Bishop 
Jeremy  Taylor  "the  extension  of  the  Incarnation,,,  and  by 
Dr.  Liddon,  "the  certified  point  of  contact"  with  His  glori- 
fied and  life-giving  Humanity.  Nevertheless,  this  is  far  from 
all  that  our  Lord  had  in  mind  for  our  blessing.  The  first 
purpose  of  the  Sacrament  is  declared  to  be,  as  the  Catechism 
clearly  puts  it  almost  in  His  own  words,  "  for  the  continual 
remembrance  [before  God,  and  before  man]  of  the  sacrifice 
of  the  death  of  Christ."  That  is,  here  is  the  sublime 
occasion  when  the  whole  Church  ("we,"  and  not  merely 
the  officiating  Priest,  who  is  but  the  Church's  mouthpiece) 
pleads  on  earth,  as  Christ  in  His  "unchangeable  priest- 

Consecration,  466-9.  Concerning  different  forms  of  the  Invocation  Bishop 
Maclean  writes:  "By  an  'explicit  Invocation'  is  meant  one  which  prays 
that  the  elements  may  become  or  be  made  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ 
to  the  end  that  the  communicants  may  be  blessed;  by  an  'implicit  Invoca- 
tion' one  which  omits  the  express  reference  to  the  change  in  the  elements." 
Ancient  Church  Orders,  p.  41.  Examples  of  both  kinds  are  found  in  the 
Liturgies,  but  the  greatest  and  most  ancient  have  explicit  formulae.  See 
Neale  and  Littledale,  Prim.  Lit.,  1869,  pp.  24,  51,  85,  114,  134.  The  Scot- 
tish Invocation  has  all  the  most  ancient  features,  explicit  prayer  for  the 
Holy  Spirit  on  "these  gifts,  etc.,  that  they  may  become  the  Body  and  Blood 
of  Thy  most  dearly  beloved  Son."  The  American,  while  explicitly  invoking 
"Thy  Word  [that  is,  the  Lord  Jesus]  and  Holy  Spirit,  to  bless  and  sanc- 
tify these  Thy  gifts,  that  we,  receiving  them,  etc.,  may  be  partakers  of  His 
most  blessed  Body  and  Blood,"  is  implicit.  In  this  it  follows  some  early 
Liturgies,  e.  g.  that  of  Sarapion.  (See  Maclean,  Anct.  Ch.  Orders,  p.  54.) 
The  English  together  with  the  Roman,  though  valid,  is  defective  in 
omitting  mention  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  in  having  only  an  implicit  Invo- 
cation "that  we  receiving  these  Thy  creatures,  etc.  may  be  partakers,  etc." 

In  A  Prayer  Book  Revised,  prepared  by  "many  liturgical  scholars,"  and 
with  a  preface  by  Bishop  Gore  of  Oxford  (1913),  the  Scottish  and  American 
Prayers  of  Consecration  are  recommended.  The  Prayer  of  Humble  Access 
also  is  put  in  its  original  position  immediately  before  the  Communion. 


178  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


hood,"1  "a  Lamb  as  it  had  been  slain,"2  still  bearing  in 
His  glorified  Body  the  five  wounds  of  His  cross,  the  tokens 
of  His  unchangeable  love,  pleads  for  us  "continually"  in 
Heaven.  That  "one  oblation  of  Himself  once  offered"  upon 
the  Cross,  whereby  He  "made  a  full,  perfect,  and  sufficient 
sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world,"  can  never  be  re- 
peated; but  His  work  of  intercession  as  "a  Priest  for  ever," 
and  also  "a  sacrifice  for  ever"  (Ps.  cx,  4;  Heb.  x,  12),  con- 
tinues "until  His  coming  again." 

For  though  the  mystery  of  an  "atoning"  sacrifice  re- 
mains, and  may  for  ever  remain,  it  is  to  be  remembered 
that  no  sacrifice  consists  in  the  mere  infliction  of  death. 
As  all  sacrifice  is  necessarily  a  conscious,  a  moral,  and  not 
a  mere  physical  act,  every  such  act  must  be  "a  living  sacri- 
fice." Such  was  Abraham's  when,  in  giving  his  loved  and 
only  son,  whose  unwilling  death  could  in  itself  have  no 
more  moral  or  spiritual  value  than  that  of  a  lamb  or  an 
ox,  he  gave  himself.  Such  too  was  our  Lord's,  though  in 
His  case  "unto  death,  even  the  death  of  the  cross."  "I 
consecrate  Myself,"  He  said.3 

In  order  to  understand  what  our  Lord  meant  by  "Do 
this  in  remembrance  of  Me,"  we  must  bear  in  mind  the 
nature  of  the  solemn  service  in  which  He  had  been  then  en- 
gaged, and  out  of  the  very  elements  of  which  He  ordained 
the  infinitely  loftier  service  which  was  its  fulfilment.  The 
Paschal  lamb  of  which  they  had  partaken  had  been  offered 
to  God  "in  remembrance"  beforehand  of  the  true  Lamb  of 
God  who  should  "take  away  the  sins  of  the  world"  in  reality 
and  not  merely  in  type.  It  was  the  mute  sign  on  which 
the  Divine  Father  was  called  to  look  as  an  anamnesis  or 
memorial  of  the  promised  Redeemer.  For  1500  years  the 
Church  of  Israel  had  been  pleading  this  in  obedience  co 

1  Heb.  vii,  3,  24.       2  Rev.  v,  6.        3  Phil,  ii,  8;  S.  John  xvii,  19. 


THE  ANAPHORA  OR  CANON  179 


the  Divine  command,  but  ignorant  of  its  true  fulfilment. 
Now  the  moment  has  come  to  make  it  clear,  and  His  dis- 
ciples are  bidden  "Do  this"  —  offer  this,  as  the  word  is  un- 
derstood by  many  of  the  Fathers — "as  My  anamnesis ', 
My  memorial  before  God  and  man,  until  I  come." 

In  the  Prayer  of  Consecration  in  the  First  Book  of  Edward, 
which  was  adopted  almost  without  change  in  the  Scottish 
Book  of  1637,  and  the  American  as  revised  in  1789,  we  see 
this  true  sacrificial  character  of  the  Holy  Eucharist  as  it  is 
found  also  in  all  the  primitive  Liturgies.  This  is  very 
different  from  the  popular  mediaeval  notion  of  "sacrifices 
of  Masses,  in  the  which  it  was  commonly  said,  that  the 
Priest  did  offer  Christ  [_anew,  that  is]  for  the  quick  and  the 
dead,"  and  which  are  condemned  as  "blasphemous  fables, 
and  dangerous  deceits"  in  the  31st  Article  of  Religion. 

And  so  the  Eucharist  is  the  Church's  "sacrifice  of  praise 
and  thanksgiving,"  a  truer  sacrifice  by  far  than  any  that 
were  ever  offered  on  Jewish  altars.  These  were  but  faint 
shadows  of  the  one  true  Sacrifice  that  was  to  come.  Ours 
is  the  "unbloody  sacrifice,"  like  that  of  Melchizedek  of 
old,  "priest  of  the  Most  High  God"1  who  brought  forth 
no  slain  beast,  but  only  "bread  and  wine."  With  us  these 
elements  are  no  more  empty  signs  of  a  thing  absent, 
but  sacraments  filled  with  the  grace  and  power  of 
Christ's  Body  broken,  and  His  Blood  shed  for  us.  And 
here  we  ask  God  to  look  on  them  and  "remember  His  ever- 
lasting covenant,"  as  He  promised  concerning  that  great 
natural  Sacrament  of  His  Love,  the  "bow  in  the  cloud," 
"That  gracious  thing  made  up  of  tears  and  light"  2  of  which 
He  said,  "I  will  look  upon  it,  that  I  may  remember  "  * 

The  true  idea  of  the  sacrificial  aspect  of  the  Eucharist, 
combined  with  the  fulness  of  its  blessing  as  a  Holy  Com- 

1  Heb.  vii.  1.         2  Coleridge,  Two  Founts.  3  Gen.  ix,  16. 


i8o  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


munion,  is  most  happily  expressed  in  the  following  verses 
by  one  who  combined  the  devout  spirit  of  a  Christian 
poet  with  the  learning  of  a  theologian,  the  late  Canon 
Bright:  — 

Wherefore,  we  sinners,  mindful  of  the  love 

That  bought  us,  once  for  all,  on  Calvary's  Tree, 

And  having  with  us  Him  that  pleads  above, 
Do  here  present,  do  here  spread  forth  to  Thee, 

That  only  offering  perfect  in  Thine  eyes, 

The  one,  true,  pure  immortal  Sacrifice. 

Look,  Father,  look  on  His  anointed  face, 
And  only  look  on  us,  as  found  in  Him; 

Look  not  on  our  misusings  of  Thy  grace, 
Our  prayer  so  languid,  and  our  faith  so  dim; 

For  lo,  between  our  sins  and  their  reward, 

We  set  the  Passion  of  Thy  Son,  our  Lord. 

And  then  for  those,  our  dearest  and  our  best, 
By  this  prevailing  Presence,  we  appeal; 

O  fold  them  closer  to  Thy  mercy's  breast, 

O  do  Thine  utmost,  for  their  souls'  true  weal! 

From  tainting  mischief  keep  them  white  and  clear, 

And  crown  Thy  gifts  with  strength  to  persevere. 

And  so  we  come, —  O  draw  us  to  Thy  feet, 
Most  patient  Saviour,  who  canst  love  us  still: 

And  by  this  Food,  so  awful  and  so  sweet, 
Deliver  us  from  every  touch  of  ill: 

In  Thine  own  service  make  us  glad  and  free, 

And  grant  us  never  more  to  part  with  Thee. 

It  is  this  sacrificial  aspect  of  the  Holy  Communion  which 
makes  clear  to  us  the  true  nature  of  all  priesthood  in  the 
Christian  Church.  It  will  be  observed  that  in  the  Pr?yer 
of  Consecration,  as  in  every  other  Liturgy,  the  Celebrant 
never  uses  the  word  "I,"  but  always  "we"  —  "we  offer," 


THE  ANAPHORA  OR  CANON  181 


"we  present  —  we  ask  —  we  bless."  And  the  reason  of 
this  is  evident.  The  officiating  Priest  is  but  the  mouth- 
piece of  the  priestly  People,  their  official  spokesman,  both 
with  and  for  his  flock.  Even  his  "eastward  position"  at 
the  altar,  as  a  shepherd  going  before  his  flock,  shows  this. 
It  is  here  therefore  that  the  People  exercise  their  "royal" 
and  very  real  priesthood.  For  they  themselves  are  also 
consecrated  to  God,  not  only  in  "the  washing  of  regenera- 
tion" in  Baptism,  but  even  in  the  Laying  on  of  Hands 
for  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  Confirmation,  just  as  the 
ministerial  Priest  is  consecrated  by  "the  Laying  on  of 
Hands"  for  the  same  gift  in  Ordination.1 

The  unreasoning  objection  to  priesthood  and  "sacerdotal- 
ism" in  the  clergy  would  not  be  so  often  heard  if  this  "sacer- 
dotalism" of  Christian  laymen,  and  their  great  privilege  as 
themselves  "priests  of  the  Most  High  God,"  were  rightly 
understood  and  realized.  For  even  under  the  old  Dispen- 
sation this  was  true  of  every  Israelite.  "Ye  shall  be  to 
Me  a  kingdom  of  priests"  was  what  God  said  to  ancient 
Israel.2  In  how  much  higher  sense,  then,  are  they  priests 
of  whom  it  is  said  that  they  are  "members  of  Christ," 
the  great  High  Priest,  "of  His  Body,  of  His  Flesh,  and  of 
His  Bones,"  having  "put  on  Christ"  in  Holy  Baptism, 
and  been  "anointed"  with  the  Holy  Ghost  in  Confirmation.3 
It  is  to  such  that  S.  Peter  writes,  "Ye  are  a  chosen  genera- 
tion, a  royal  priesthood"  (iep&revfxa,  sacerdotium);  and  that 

1  Tit.  iii,  5;  Acts  xix,  6;  xiii,  3.  See  also  chap.  xxx.  This  priestly 
part  taken  by  the  people  is  further  emphasized  by  the  rule  of  one  of  the 
earliest  Liturgies,  The  Testament  of  our  Lord,  where  the  congregation  say 
with  the  celebrant  the  prayer  of  Oblation  in  the  midst  of  the  Eucharistic 
service.   See  Maclean,  Recent  Discoveries,  pp.  14,  102. 

2  Ex.  xix,  6. 

a  Eph.  v,  30;  Gal.  iii,  27. 


182  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP     THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


S.  John  says,  "Christ  hath  made  us  kings  and  priests  (tepeis, 
sacerdotes)  unto  God  and  His  Father."  1 

Here  in  fact  is  the  solid  ground  of  responsibility  in  every 
Christian  layman.  He  too  is  a  priest,  and  can  no  more 
unrobe  himself  of  that  which  he  has  "put  on,"  than  the 
ministerial  priest  can  unrobe  himself,  without  disgrace 
and  sin  and  eternal  loss.2  Well  may  we  say  in  the  half 
ironical  language  of  the  saintly  Bishop  Leighton,  speaking 
of  this  priesthood  or  sacerdotium  of  the  layman,  "It  is  not 
so  mean  a  thing  as  we  think  to  be  a  Christian"  {Works,  I. 
262).  It  is  of  this  "mysterious  state  in  which  all  Chris- 
tians stand"  even  now,  that  Newman  has  beautifully  said, 
"They  are  ministers  round  the  throne  of  their  reconciled 
Father;  kings  and  priests  unto  God;  having  their  robes 
washed  in  the  Lamb's  Blood,  and  being  consecrated  as 
temples  of  the  Holy  Ghost."3 

But  real  and  glorious  as  is  this  universal  priesthood,  it 
does  not  exclude  the  ministerial  priesthood.  So  far  from 
doing  so  it  seems  only  to  make  it  the  more  necessary.  For 
if  the  universal  priesthood  of  the  people  of  Israel  did  not 

1  Rev.  i.  6.  Commenting  on  this  passage  S.  Augustine  says,  "This 
refers  not  to  the  Bishops  and  Presbyters  alone,  who  are  now  specially 
called  priests  {sacerdotes)  in  the  Church;  but  as  we  call  all  believers  'Chris- 
tians/ so  we  call  all  'priests'  {sacerdotes),  because  they  are  members  of  the 
one  Priest."    Civ.  Dei,  xx,  10. 

2  "It  is  worthy  of  notice  how  those  Nonconforming  bodies,  which  lay 
stress  in  this  matter  on  the  authority  of  S.  Peter  and  S.  John,  have  robbed 
the  laity  of  their  prerogative,  and  precluded  them  almost  entirely  from  all 
part  in  the  offering  of  public  worship.  A  comparison  of  the  ordinary 
service  and  the  parts  assigned  to  the  congregation  and  the  ministers  as 
appointed  in  the  Church  and  in  any  Dissenting  Chapel  will  exhibit  the 
contrast  in  a  very  marked  manner."  (Luckock,  Studies  in  the  Prayer 
Book,  p.  7,  note.) 

3  Par.  and  Plain  Sermons,  III.  264. 


THE  ANAPHORA  OR  CANON  183 

exclude  a  ministerial  priesthood,  as  the  rebels  under  Korah 
asserted  it  did,  and  as  God  declared  it  did  not,1  why  should 
the  universal  priesthood  of  the  Christian  Church  interfere 
with  or  exclude  a  ministerial  priesthood?  There  is  clearly 
no  contradiction,  such  as  men  are  fond  of  assuming,  be- 
tween the  general  and  the  special  priesthood.  It  is  true  the 
priesthood  is  of  the  whole  body  of  the  Church.  But  why 
should  not  this  function  of  the  whole  body  be  exercised  by 
a  particular  limb,  or  a  particular  organ,  as  in  the  natural 
body,  or  by  a  particular  person,  as  under  the  old  cove- 
nant? That  is  S.  Paul's  unanswerable  argument  when 
headstrong  or  ignorant  Christians  in  Corinth  opposed  his 
own  official  character  as  an  Apostle.  "The  body  is  not  one 
member,  but  many.  ...  If  the  whole  body  were  an  eye, 
where  were  the  hearing?  .  .  .  Are  all  apostles?"  he  asks.2 
"All  members  have  not  the  same  office,"  is  what  he  reminds 
his  fellow  Christians  in  Rome  also.3  This  is  simply  a 
necessity  in  all  government,  in  the  state,  the  family,  and 
in  any  voluntary  club,  as  well  as  in  the  Church.  And  it 
is  in  the  very  act  of  celebrating  the  Holy  Communion, 
which  is  so  dependent  on  the  special  sacerdotal  powers 
of  the  ministerial  priesthood,  that  we  find  the  best  illus- 
tration of  this  twofold  sacerdotium  —  that  of  the  lay  priest 
and  of  the  other,  each  in  his  own  sphere  and  "office." 4 
There  is  no  setting  of  one  above  the  other,  or  putting  the 
ministerial  priest  between  any  soul  and  God.  Both  are 
sacrificers,  pleaders,  intercessors,  mediators  with  God, 
through  the  one  Mediator  and  Sacrifice.    But  one  is  neces- 

1  Num.  xvi,  and  Jude  n. 

2  1  Cor.  xii,  14,  17,  29. 

3  Rom.  xii,  4, 

4  Compare  Bishop  Gore,  The  Church  and  the  Ministry,  A  Review  of 
Dr.  Hatch's  Bamp.  Lec.  pp.  23,  sq. 


i84  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

sarily  the  mouthpiece  of  the  Body  of  Christ,  and  all  speak 
to  God  through  him.1 

1  On  the  general  subject  of  the  Ministerial  Priesthood,  see  chap, 
xxxvi-xxxix.  Liddon  speaks  of  "sacerdotalism"  as  "a  formidable  word, 
harmless  in  itself,  but  surrounded  with  very  invidious  associations" 
{Univ.  Ser.j  2nd  series,  191).  "The  chief  ideas  commonly  associated  with 
sacerdotalism,  which  it  is  important  to  repudiate,"  writes  Bishop  Gore,  "is 
that  of  a  vicarious  priesthood.  .  .  .  It  is  an  abuse  of  the  sacerdotal  concep- 
tion, if  it  is  supposed  that  the  priesthood  exists  to  celebrate  sacrifices  or 
acts  of  worship  in  the  place  of  the  body  of  the  people,  or  as  their  substitute. 
This  conception  had,  no  doubt,  attached  itself  to  the  'massing  priests' 
of  the  Middle  Ages.  What  is  the  truth  then?  It  is  that  the  Church  is 
one  body.  The  free  approach  to  God  in  the  Sonship  and  Priesthood  of 
Christ  belongs  to  men  as  members  of  'one  body,'  and  this  one  body  has 
different  organs  through  which  the  functions  of  its  life  find  expression, 
as  it  was  differentiated  by  the  act  and  appointment  of  Him  who  created 
it"  {The  Church  and  the  Ministry,  pp.  84-86).  "If  Christian  laymen 
would  only  believe  with  all  their  hearts  that  they  are  really  priests,"  writes 
Liddon,  "we  should  very  soon  escape  from  some  of  the  difficulties  which 
vex  the  Church  of  Christ.  Spiritual  endowments  are  given  to  the  Chris- 
tian layman  with  one  purpose,  to  the  Christian  minister  with  another: 
the  object  of  the  first  is  personal,  that  of  the  second  is  corporate"  {Univ. 
Ser.,  2nd  series,  p.  198).  Each  is  a  real  priest  in  his  own  sphere,  and  so, 
in  all  the  worship  of  the  Church,  it  is  never  "/  offer,  /  beseech,  /  inter- 
cede," but  "  We  offer,  we  beseech,  we  intercede,"  and  that  not  only  for 
ourselves,  but  for  "Thy  whole  Church,  and  for  all  men." 


CHAPTER  XIX 
Christ's  Presence  in  the  Holy  Communion 

"What  these  elements  are  in  themselves  it  skilleth  not;  it  is  enough  that  to  me 
which  take  them  they  are  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ.  His  promise 
in  witness  hereof  sufficed,  His  word  He  knoweth  which  way  to  accom- 
plish." —  Hooker. 

IT  is  very  important  to  observe  here  that  the  Church  of 
England  and  the  Churches  in  communion  with  her 
have  never  formulated  any  theory  as  to  how  our  Lord  is 
present  in  the  Holy  Sacrament  of  His  Body  and  Blood. 
Rome  has  her  metaphysical  theory  of  transubstantiation, 
or  the  change  of  substance  (not  of  "accidents,"  or  visible 
form),  into  the  sacred  Body  and  Blood.  This  theory  has 
been  described  as  "bad  theology  based  on  worse  psychol- 
ogy," and  is  declared  by  our  28th  Article  of  Religion  to 
be  "repugnant  to  the  plain  words  of  Scripture,"  and  as 
"overthrowing  the  nature  of  a  Sacrament,"  inasmuch  as 
a  Sacrament  is  defined  as  having  two  parts,"  the  outward 
visible  sign,  and  the  inward  spiritual  grace,"  whereas,  ac- 
cording to  the  theory  of  a  change  of  substance,  only  one 
part  in  reality  remains,  for  the  "accidents"  are  a  mere  cheat 
to  the  eye.1 

Luther's  theory  of  consubstantiation  is  perhaps  equally 
objectionable.  It  is  that  "after  consecration  of  the  Eucha- 
rist, the  substance  of  the  Lord's  Body  and  Blood  co-exists 
in  union  with  the  substance  of  Bread  and  Wine,  just  as 

1  Gelasius,  Bishop  of  Rome,  in  490  wrote,  "  By  the  sacraments  we  are 
made  partakers  of  the  Divine  Nature,  and  yet  the  substance  or  nature  of 
bread  and  wine  does  not  cease  to  be  in  them."  For  the  original  see  Bing- 
ham, XV,  v,  4,  note  71. 


1 86  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fc?  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


iron  and  fire  are  united  in  a  bar  of  heated  iron."  1  The 
Theory  of  Zwingli  of  Zurich,  on  the  other  hand,  regards 
"the  Sacraments  as  mere  signs  of  initiation  and  of  a  pledge 
to  continue  in  the  outward  society.  .  .  .  They  are  not  even 
pledges  of  grace."  2  This  also  is  distinctly  condemned  in 
the  25th  Article  of  Religion,  where  it  is  said  that  "Sacra- 
ments ordained  of  Christ  be  not  only  badges  or  tokens  of 
Christian  men's  profession,  but  rather  they  be  certain  sure 
witnesses  and  effectual  signs  of  grace  ...  by  which  God 
doth  work  invisibly  in  us." 

But  all  theories  in  regard  to  the  how  of  Christ's  presence 
in  the  Holy  Sacrament  are  equally  objectionable,  and 
equally  useless.  Christ  has  not  told  us  how,  and  the 
Church  does  not  presume  to  define  what  He  has  not  defined. 
"How  can  these  things  be?"  Nicodemus  asked  when 
our  Lord  declared  to  him  the  mystery  of  the  "water  and 
of  the  Spirit"  in  Holy  Baptism.3  "How  can  this  man  give 
us  His  flesh  to  eat?"  the  unbelieving  Jews  asked  when  He 
declared  the  mystery  of  the  other  Sacrament.4  And  in 
each  case  the  question  was  only  met  by  a  restatement  and 
a  fuller  declaration  of  the  mystery.  The  Anglican  Commu- 
nion is  content  to  leave  the  matter  just  where  our  Lord 
left  it  when  He  said  of  the  wind,  "Thou  canst  not  tell."  5 
The  mystery  of  His  Presence  in  "the  outward  and  visible 
sign"  is  no  greater,  no  more  comprehensible,  He  would 
have  us  know,  than  the  presence  of  what  we  call  life  in  a 
blade  of  grass,  or  an  electric  current  in  a  piece  of  wire,  or  a 
soul  in  the  body  of  a  man.  Physical  science  and  Christian 
faith  are  at  one  in  accepting  the  mystery  in  each  case. 
Neither  cares  to  ask  the  useless  question  "How?"  6  There 


1  Blunt,  Die.  of  Doc.  and  His.  Theology,  s.  v. 

2  Ibid.  p.  812.  8  S.  John  iii,  1-14.  4  Ibid,  vi,  52.  6  Ibid,  iii,  8. 
6  Cf.  Hooker  V,  Ixxvi,  12,  p.  460,  Keble's  ed. 


CHRIST'S  PRESENCE 


187 


was  sound  theology  as  well  as  sound  philosophy  in  the 
answer  attributed  to  Princess  (afterwards  Queen)  Eliza- 
beth when  she  replied  to  the  question  of  one  who  would 
entrap  her  concerning  the  "how  ":  — 

"His  was  the  Word  that  spake  it; 
He  took  the  bread  and  brake  it, 
And  what  that  Word  did  make  it, 
That  I  believe,  and  take  it." 

Without  attempting  to  define  the  manner  of  Christ's 
presence  in  the  Sacrament,  the  Prayer  Book  asserts  very 
clearly,  as  our  Lord  did,  the  fact  of  His  presence.  The 
Church  is  but  following  Him  when,  in  the  Prayer  of  Hum- 
ble Access,  and  elsewhere,  she  speaks  of  "eating  the  Flesh  1 
of  Thy  dear  Son  Jesus  Christ,  and  drinking  His  Blood"; 
of  "receiving  the  most  precious  Body  and  Blood,"  and  of 
"the  Body  of  Christ"  as  being  "given"  as  well  as  "taken, 
and  eaten  in  the  Supper,"  though  "only  after  a  heavenly 
and  spiritual  manner."  And  all  this  is  but  employing 
the  very  language  which  our  Lord  employed,  knowing  per- 
fectly as  He  did  how  men  w7ould,  in  these  latter  days,  stumble 
at  His  marvelous  language  as  "a  hard  saying,"  while  He 
refused  to  alter  or  withdraw  a  single  word,  even  when  some 
of  His  disciples  forsook  Him  on  account  of  this  "  hardness."  2 

1  The  use  of  the  word  "Flesh"  here  instead  of  "Body"  shows  that  the 
Church  interprets  our  Lord's  words  in  St.  John  vi.,  where  "Flesh"  alone 
is  used,  as  a  definite  instruction  in  preparation  for  the  Holy  Sacrament 
which  He  instituted  a  year  later.    Compare  Heb.  x,  20. 

2  S.  John  vi,  60,  66.  Coleridge  presses  home  this  point  as  follows:  — 
"That  those  [who  deny  the  genuineness  of  S.  John's  Gospel]  should  object 
to  the  use  of  expressions  which  they  had  ranked  among  the  most  obvious 
marks  of  spuriousness,  follows  as  a  matter  of  course.  But  that  men  who 
with  a  clear  and  cloudless  assent  receive  the  sixth  chapter  of  this  Gospel 
as  a  faithful,  nay,  inspired  record  of  an  actual  discourse,  should  take 
offence  at  the  repetition  of  words  which  the  Redeemer  Himself,  in  the  per- 


188  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


Hooker,  with  his  keen  philosophic  sense,  strikes  at  the 
root  of  the  matter  when  he  writes:  "Sith  we  all  agree  that 
by  the  Sacrament  Christ  doth  really  and  truly  in  us  per- 
form His  promise,  why  do  we  vainly  trouble  ourselves 
with  so  fierce  contentions  whether  by  consubstantiation, 
or  else  by  transubstantiation  the  Sacrament  itself  be  first 
possessed  with  Christ,  or  no?"  And  again:  —  "Let  curious 
and  sharp-witted  men  beat  their  heads  about  what  ques- 
tions themselves  will,  the  very  letter  of  the  word  of  Christ 
giveth  plain  security  that  these  mysteries  do  as  nails  fasten 
us  to  His  very  Cross,  that  by  them  we  draw  out,  as  touch- 
ing efficacy,  force,  and  virtue,  even  the  Blood  of  His  gored 
side;  in  the  wounds  of  our  Redeemer  we  there  dip  our 
tongues,  we  are  dyed  red  both  within  and  without;  our 
hunger  is  satisfied,  and  our  thirst  for  ever  quenched;  they 
are  things  wonderful  which  he  feeleth,  great  which  he  seeth, 
and  unheard  of  which  he  uttereth,  whose  soul  is  possessed 
of  this  Paschal  Lamb  and  made  joyful  in  the  strength  of 

feet  foreknowledge  that  they  would  confirm  the  disbelieving,  alienate  the 
unstedfast,  and  transcend  the  present  capacity  even  of  His  own  elect, 
had  chosen  as  the  most  appropriate;  and  which,  after  the  most  decisive 
proofs  that  they  were  misinterpreted  by  the  greater  number  of  His  hearers, 
and  not  understood  by  any,  He  nevertheless  repeated  with  stronger  em- 
phasis and  without  comment  as  the  only  appropriate  symbols  of  the  great 
truth  he  was  declaring,  and  to  realize  which  iy^vero  <rap£  ["  He  was  made 
flesh  "3;  —  that  in  their  own  discourses  these  men  should  hang  back  from 
all  express  reference  to  these  words,  as  if  they  were  afraid  or  ashamed  of  them, 
though  the  earliest  recorded  ceremonies  and  liturgical  forms  of  the  prim- 
itive Church  are  absolutely  inexplicable,  except  in  connection  with  this 
discourse,  and  with  the  mysterious  and  spiritual,  not  allegorical  and  merely 
ethical,  import  of  the  same;  and  though  this  import  is  solemnly  and  in  the 
most  unequivocable  terms  asserted  and  taught  by  their  own  Church,  even 
in  her  Catechism,  or  compendium  of  doctrine  necessary  for  all  her  members; 
—  this  I  may  perhaps  understand;  but  this  I  am  not  able  to  vindicate  or 
excuse"  {Aids  to  Reflection,  pp.  351,  352). 


CHRIST'S  PRESENCE 


this  new  wine;  this  bread  hath  in  it  more  than  the  sub- 
stance which  our  eyes  behold;  this  cup  hallowed  with  solemn 
benediction  availeth  to  the  endless  life  and  welfare  both  of 
soul  and  body,  in  that  it  serveth  as  well  for  a  medicine  to 
heal  our  infirmities  and  purge  our  sins,  as  for  a  sacrifice 
of  thanksgiving;  with  touching,  it  sanctifieth;  it  enlight- 
eneth  with  belief;  it  truly  comformeth  us  unto  the  image  of 
Jesus  Christ.  What  these  elements  are  in  themselves  it 
skilleth  not,  it  is  enough  that  to  me  which  take  them  they 
are  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ.  His  promise  in  witness 
hereof  sufficeth,  His  word  He  knoweth  which  way  to  ac- 
complish; why  should  any  cogitation  possess  the  mind  of 
a  faithful  communicant  but  this,  O  my  God,  Thou  art  true, 
O  my  soul,  thou  art  happy!"  1 

It  is  surely  a  good  test  of  one's  freedom  from  intellectual 
prejudice  to  ask  ourselves,  Do  I  wish  that  Christ  had  used 
some  words  about  this  mystery  other  than  those  He  has 

1  Eccl.  Pol.>  V,  lxvii,  6,  12.  —  Hooker  elsewhere  falls  into  the  very  error 
which  he  is  here  guarding  others  against  when  he  formulates  a  theory 
of  his  own,  though  a  negative  one,  concerning  the  "how"  of  Christ's  pres- 
ence, "The  real  presence  of  Christ's  most  blessed  Body  and  Blood,"  he 
writes  in  this  same  chapter  (section  6),  "  is  not  to  be  sought  in  the  Sacra- 
ment, but  in  the  worthy  receiver  of  the  Sacrament."  Archdeacon  Freeman 
points  out  that  Hooker  failed  to  notice  that  S.  Paul  does  not  say,  "The 
bread  which  we  eat,  is  it  not  the  Communion  of  the  Body  of  Christ?"  but 
"The  bread  which  we  break"  "the  cup  which  we  bless"  (i  Cor.  x,  l6; 
Prin.  Div.  Ser.  II.  Intro,  p.  208).  Hence  the  28th  Article  of  Religion 
declares  that  "the  Body  of  Christ  is  given"  as  well  as  "taken  and  eaten.'* 
To  deny  this  would  indeed  be  to  adopt  Calvin's  theory  that  it  is  the  faith 
of  the  receiver  that  makes  Christ  present,  and  not  He  who  wrought  the 
mystery  of  the  Incarnation  at  the  beginning,  namely,  "the  Holy  Ghost, 
the  Power  of  the  Highest,"  (S.  Luke  i,  35),  "the  Lord,  and  Giver  of  life," 
acting  through  His  appointed  ministers.  The  office  of  faith,  S.  Paul  tells 
us,  is  to  "discern"  the  Lord's  Body  (1  Cor.  xi.  29)  as  already  present  by 
the  "breaking,"  and  the  "thanksgiving,"  and  the  "blessing,"  and  not  to 
make  It  present. 


i9o  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


used,  words  such  as  He  might  easily  have  used?  If  He  had 
meant,  "This  is  only  a  visible  token  to  remind  you  of  My 
Body,  but  it  is  not  My  Body  and  Blood  in  any  real  sense," 
would  He  not  have  said  so?  But  this  is  just  what  He  did 
not  say,  and  what  He  did  say  is  very  different,  very  won- 
derful, unspeakably  glorious,  the  language  of  the  King  of 
heaven  and  earth,  concerning  whom  it  is  written,  "Eye 
hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither  have  entered  into  the 
heart  of  man,  the  things  which  God  hath  prepared  for  them 
that  love  Him"  (i  Cor.  ii.  9). 

One  thing  only  remains  to  be  said  concerning  this  great 
ordinance  in  its  two-fold  aspect,  as  the  "continual  remem- 
brance [before  God  and  man]  of  the  sacrifice  of  the  death 
of  Christ,"  and  as  the  means  whereby  the  power  of  His 
incarnate  life  for  holy  living  is  conveyed  to  every  worthy 
partaker.  It  is  the  one  and  only  act  of  public  worship  or- 
dained  by  Him  as  His  parting  gift  and  command  to  His  Church. 
Other  services  have  their  use.  This  is  essential  to  her  very 
existence,  and  must  be  "continual,"  "until  He  come." 
Concerning  this  it  has  been  wisely  said: — "If  only  the 
Church  will  trust  herself,  and  the  Spirit  of  God  that  is  in 
her!  Let  her  concentrate  all  her  power  upon  her  central 
act  of  worship.  Let  her,  in  hours  of  perplexity,  be  content 
to  reassert  her  central  verities,  avoiding  definitions  and 
deductions,  leaving  the  declaration  to  do  its  work  by  its 
own  spiritual  weight  and  momentum.  Let  her  give  free- 
dom, elasticity,  variety,  to  her  minor  offices.  Let  her 
show  to  living  people  that  she  can  teach  them,  in  perfectly 
plain  and  simple  speech,  by  ways  that  are  intelligible  to 
any  human  heart  that  cares  to  learn,  how  to  live  as  they 
ought,  and  to  die  in  Christ.  She  has  but  to  be  loyal  to  her 
own  claims,  and  she  shall  live."1 

1  Canon  Scott  Holland,  Our  Place  in  Christendom,  Lecture  VII. 


CHAPTER  XX 


Communion  and  Post-Communion 

"//  /  may  but  touch  His  garment,  I  shall  be  whole."  —  S.  Matt,  ix,  21. 

"  Touch  Me  not !   awhile  believe  Me. 1 
Touch  Me  not  till  Heaven  receive  Me. 
Then  draw  near,  and  never  leave  Me; 
Then  I  go  no  more."  —  Keble. 

THE  Church  has  nowhere,  either  by  rubric  or  canon, 
laid  down  any  rule  in  regard  to  preparation  for 
Holy  Communion  in  addition  to  the  general  one  of  self 
examination  concerning  our  repentance  and  faith,  as 
stated  in  her  Catechism,  and  in  the  Office  itself.  Nowhere, 
for  instance,  does  she  require  that  a  communicant  must 
come  fasting  to  receive  the  Holy  Sacrament.  It  is  true 
that  this  was  the  rule  of  the  Church  generally  for  many 
centuries,  not  however  because  it  was  the  rule  "from  the 
beginning,"  or  as  a  question  of  essential  right  or  wrong, 
but  as  a  question  of  discipline,  a  detail  in  the  matter  of 
reverent  preparation,  over  which  each  "particular  or  national 
Church"  has  complete  jurisdiction.2 

That  Fasting  Communion  was  not  the  rule  from  the  be- 
ginning is  unquestioned.  It  was  "after  supper,"  that  is,  the 
Paschal  Supper,  that  our  Lord  instituted  the  new  spiritual 
feast  of  His  Body  and  Blood.3  In  the  Church  of  Corinth, 
founded  by  S.  Paul,  we  know  that  as  late  as  the  year  57, 
when  he  wrote  his  first  letter  to  that  Church,  the  Sacra- 
ment was  celebrated  after  the  Agape,  or  common  love-feast, 
of  which  all  were  partakers.4    Experience  showed,  how- 

1  S.  John,  xx  17.  3  S.  Luke  xxii,  20. 

*  Art.  xxxiv.  4  1  Cor.  xi. 


192  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


ever,  that  this  practice  led  to  serious  abuses,  probably  in 
other  Churches  as  well  as  in  that  of  Corinth,  and  S.  Paul 
with  his  apostolic  authority  interposed  to  correct  them. 
Nevertheless,  it  is  most  important  to  observe  that  the  Apostle, 
so  far  from  commanding  the  Corinthians  to  fast  as  a  neces- 
sary prerequisite  for  Communion,  on  the  contrary  says, 
"If  any  man  hunger,  let  him  eat  at  home,  that  ye  come 
not  together  to  condemnation. "  Thus  he  plainly  contem- 
plates that  some  at  least  would  eat  ordinary  food  before 
communicating,  and  without  any  condemnation  in  so  doing. 
In  other  words  the  whole  matter  was  left  to  the  individual 
conscience,  and  this  is  exactly  where  the  English-speaking 
Church  leaves  it  also. 

How  then,  it  may  be  asked,  did  the  custom  of  Fasting 
Communion  grow  up?  The  answer  cannot  be  better  ex- 
pressed than  in  the  words  of  Bishop  Christopher  Words- 
worth of  Lincoln:  —  "In  sub-apostolic  times  —  that  is, 
in  the  days  of  persecution  —  it  was  usual  to  receive  the 
Holy  Communion  very  early  in  the  morning.  .  .  .  Various 
reasons  may  be  assigned  for  this.  It  may  have  been  in- 
troduced on  account  of  the  irregularities  to  which  the  later 
reception  had  given  rise  at  Corinth,  and  also  because  the 
hour,  as  well  as  the  day,  of  our  Lord's  resurrection  had  a 
significant  propriety  for  the  administration  of  the  Sacra- 
ment; and  also  because  it  was  fit  that  this  holy  food  should 
be  the  first  received  on  that  day,  and  probably  also  because, 
in  times  of  persecution,  the  early  twilight  morning  hour, 
with  its  quiet  seclusion  in  the  Catacombs,  and  other  places 
of  retreat,  was  the  best  that  could  have  been  chosen  for 
the  assemblies  of  Christians. 

"It  cannot  be  doubted  that,  at  the  close  of  the  fourth 
century,  it  was  the  practice  of  the  Church  to  receive  the 
Communion  before  any  other  food,  except  on  one  day  of 


COMMUNION  AND  POST-COMMUNION  193 


the  year  —  namely  on  Maundy  Thursday  —  the  anniver- 
sary of  the  day  when  the  Holy  Communion  was  instituted. 
On  that  anniversary  it  was  administered  after  supper,  as 
a  record  of  the  time  of  its  original  institution  by  Christ.1 
All  this  is  readily  allowed,  and  it  would  be  irreverent  and 
presumptuous  in  us  to  say  that  the  Church  of  God  did  not 
act  wisely  in  this  matter.  .  .  .  But  it  would  be  also  irrev- 
erent and  presumptuous  in  us  to  take  upon  ourselves  to  be 
legislators  in  ritual  matters,  and  to  impose  customs,  whether 
derived  from  the  first  century  or  from  the  fourth  century, 
in  a  spirit  of  opposition  to  the  laws  and  usages  of  the  par- 
ticular Church  in  which  our  lot  is  cast  by  the  providence 
of  God.,,  2 

While  then  it  may  be  true  that  fasting  Communion  is 
the  "more  excellent  way"  for  those  who  are  physically  able, 
it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  non-fasting  and  later,  vol- 
untary fasting,  before  Communion  was  the  earliest  custom 
of  the  Church.  Such  fasting  moreover  was  not  meant 
as  an  act  of  self-mortification,  a  thing  forbidden  on  all 
feast  days,  but  only  of  reverence.3  Provided,  therefore, 
that  one  comes  with  the  preparation  demanded  by  S.  Paul 
in  his  letter  to  the  communicants  in  Corinth,  and  by  the 
Church  in  her  Prayer  Book,  he  need  have  no  scruples  about 
taking  necessary  food  before  Communion.  The  whole 
question  of  fasting  Communion  may  indeed  be  summed 
up  in  the  words  —  To  receive  fasting  is  an  ancient  and  good 
custom;  to  communicate  is  a  duty.    It  is  plain  then  that 

1  See  the  author's  The  Christian  Tear;  Its  Purpose  and  its  History, 
pp.  112,  113. 

1  Charge  to  his  Diocese  in  1882.    See  also  the  unanimous  report  of  a 
committee  of  the  Canterbury  Convocation  in  1893. 

a  While  the  custom  of  the  East  is  to  receive  fasting,  the  responsibility 
of  deciding  if  one  can  rightly  receive  with  broken  fast  is  left  to  the  indi- 
vidual conscience. 


i94  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


it  is  wrong  to  refrain  from  Communion  where  the  only 
hindrance  is  the  accidental  lack  of  fasting,  or  the  inability 
to  fast.1 

It  is  important  to  observe  that  the  rubric  in  regard  to 
receiving  the  Communion  requires  that  it  shall  be  given 
"into  their  hands,"  not  fingers.  This  ancient  rule  and  its 
reason  are  taught  by  S.  Cyril,  the  Bishop  of  Jerusalem  in 
the  fourth  century,  when,  as  a  priest,  he  was  giving  his 
last  instruction  to  persons  preparing  for  Holy  Communion.2 

1  Compulsory  fasting  as  well  as  compulsory  confession  to  a  priest,  as 
a  prerequisite  to  Communion,  had  much  to  do  with  the  rare  reception  of 
the  Sacrament  in  the  mediaeval  Church,  where  only  a  single  Communion 
in  the  year  was  obligatory,  though  attendance  at  the  Office  was  required 
every  Sunday.  Bishop  Kingdon  of  Fredericton,  while  defending  fasting 
reception  of  the  Holy  Communion,  as  a  custom,  tells  this  anecdote  con- 
cerning the  modern  Church  of  France  under  the  mediaeval  rules:  —  "A 
few  years  ago  a  Jesuit  father,  English  by  birth  and  education,  was  conduct- 
ing a  retreat  for  priests  in  the  north  of  France.  One  day  at  the  time  of 
recreation,  the  parish  Priest  called  on  his  brethren  to  sympathize  with 
him  in  his  satisfaction  at  having  that  day  communicated  two  men.  The 
English  Priest  was  astonished:  'What,  only  two!'  And  the  answer  was, 
'I  have  never  seen  such  a  sight  before,  during  the  twenty  years  I  have 
been  here  as  Cure.'"  Dr.  Pusey  in  1873  wrote  to  a  correspondent:  — 
"If  there  had  been  anything  irreverent  in  receiving  the  Body  and  Blood 
of  our  Lord  after  food,  our  Lord  would  not  so  have  instituted  it.  The 
division  of  the  day  at  midnight  is  only  arbitrary.  When  the  day  begins 
at  sunset,  it  [that  is,  the  following  morning]  is  the  same  day."  Concern- 
ing those  unable  to  come  fasting  he  says;  —  "I  should  think  that  such  an 
one  would  show  more  reverence  and  love  for  our  Lord's  Body  and  Blood 
by  receiving  it  at  a  definite  time  (three  or  four  hours)  after  light  food,  or 
sooner  after  some  liquid,  than  by  excommunicating  himself  from  it,  it  may 
be  for  months  together,  or  being  very  probably  incapable  of  thought  at  the 
time  of  communicating."    See  the  Guardian  (London),  March  24th,  1897. 

8  Catech.  Lec.  XXIII.  In  order  to  guard  against  a  superstitious  prac- 
tice in  mediaeval  days  the  Book  of  1549  ordered  that  "the  people  commo.ily 
receive  the  Sacrament  of  Christ's  Body  in  their  mouths,  at  the  Priest's 
hand."    The  primitive  rule  was  restored  in  1552. 


COMMUNION  AND  POST-COMMUNION  195 


Reverence  requires  also  that  no  gloves  should  be  worn, 
and  no  handkerchief  carried  nor  veil  allowed  to  droop  over 
the  cup.  It  is  surely  thoughtless,  to  say  the  least,  for  any 
one  to  wipe  away  from  the  lips  so  sacred  a  thing  as  that 
which  our  Lord  calls  His  Blood.  It  is  prudent  of  the  Priest 
to  retain  a  slight  hold  of  the  cup  for  the  purpose  of  guarding 
against  accident,  but  a  similar  reason  will  make  him  insist 
that  the  cup  shall  be  firmly  taken  by  "the  hands,"  and 
not  merely  placed  by  him  to  the  lips.1 

Custom  varies  much  in  regard  to  saying  all  the  words  of 
administration,  "The  Body  etc.,"  "The  Blood  etc.,"  to 
each  communicant.  When  there  are  many  to  receive,  the 
rubric  seems  to  be  sufficiently  fulfilled  if  only  the  preca- 
tory portion  is  used  to  each,  though  even  a  more  liberal 
rule  would  preserve  the  spirit  of  the  law.  It  is  very  note- 
worthy that  this  prayer,  "preserve  thy  body  and  soul," 
again  connects  this  Holy  Sacrament  directly  with  our  Lord's 
preparatory  teaching  in  S.  John  vi  where  He  associates 
the  resurrection  of  our  bodies  with  the  eating  of  His  Flesh 
and  drinking  of  His  Blood  (verse  54) .2 

In  the  Lord's  Prayer,  which  immediately  follows,  and 
is  to  be  said  by  all  as  the  beginning  of  their  thanksgiving, 
the  "daily  bread"  should  have  its  highest,  and  really  prim- 
ary, meaning  in  the  thought  of  every  devout  communicant. 
"  I  am  the  Living  Bread,"  said  our  Lord.  "The  Bread  that  I 
will  give  is  My  Flesh."3  This  too  is  the  interpretation 
in  the  Church  Catechism  —  "all  things  needful  for  our 
souls  and  bodies"  —  both  kinds,  but  first  of  all  for  every 

1  See  also  chap,  xvi,  pp.  160,  161. 

*  It  is  well  worth  noting  that  the  only  word  employed  in  the  Prayer 
Book  for  the  act  of  receiving  the  Communion  is  "communicate."  "Com- 
mune" suggests  a  much  lower  conception,  and  should  be  avoided. 
3  S.  John  vi,  51. 


196   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP     THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


true  believer,,  "the  meat  that  endureth  unto  everlasting 
life"  (verse  27).  John  Wesley's  comment  on  the  petition 
for  "daily  bread"  is:  "not  only  the  meat  that  perisheth, 
but  the  Sacramental  Bread,  and  Thy  Grace."  1 

The  first  Post-Communion  prayer  that  follows  in  the 
English  Book  is  scarcely  a  prayer  of  thanksgiving.  It 
forms  the  concluding  part  of  the  Prayer  of  Consecration 
in  the  Scottish  and  American  books.  The  second,  and 
alternative  prayer  is  the  thanksgiving  in  all  the  books.  It 
was  composed  in  1549. 

The  Gloria  in  Excelsis,  which  is  an  enlargement  of 
the  song  of  the  angels  at  the  Nativity,  had  a  most  appropriate 
place  at  the  beginning  of  the  service  in  the  early  liturgies, 
and  in  the  First  Book,  as  heralding  the  coming  of  the  In- 
carnate One  to  sinful  men.  In  the  East  it  is  called  the 
"Great  Doxology,"  and  from  the  earliest  days  has  been  a 
hymn  in  the  daily  Morning  Office.  In  mediaeval  days  in 
England  its  use  was  confined  in  the  Eucharistic  service  to 
certain  seasons,  being  omitted  in  Advent,  and  from  Septua- 
gesima  to  Easter  Even.  "The  English  Church  at  her  Re- 
vision," Archdeacon  Freeman  writes,  "after  restoring  the 
great  Hymn  at  first  to  continual  use,  was  most  infelicitous 
subsequently  in  placing  it  after  consecration  and  recep- 
tion. Even  as  placed  there,  indeed,  it  cannot  but  serve 
an  excellent  purpose;  as  did  the  Agnus  Dei — an  extract 
from  the  Gloria  in  Excelsis  —  placed  of  old  in  our  own 
and  in  the  Roman  Use  between  consecration  and  recep- 


1  The  Greek  word  translated  "daily"  —  epiousion  —  occurs  only  in 
the  Lord's  Prayer  (S.  Matt,  vi,  11;  S.  Luke  xi,  3),  and  its  exact  meaning 
is  somewhat  uncertain.  The  best  translation  seems  to  be  that  of  the 
early  Syriac  version  which  renders  it  by  "necessary,"  "the  bread  of  our 
necessity."  The  Latin  Vulgate  gives  the  word  "supersubstantial,"  which 
is  a  literal  translation  of  the  Greek,  but  scarcely  conveys  its  meaning. 


COMMUNION  AND  POST-COMMUNION  197 

tion.  But,  ritually  speaking,  the  transposition  is  as  clear 
a  departure  from  the  ancient  method  of  using  it,  as  its 
restoration  to  constant  use  was  accordant  therewith."  1 

The  Blessing  of  Peace  which  closes  the  service  is,  as 
Mr.  Scudamore  says,  at  "once  the  grandest  and  the  most 
calmly  solemn  extant."  The  first  clause  is  taken  from 
Phil,  iv  7.  Its  greatness  and  dignity  are  recognized  by 
its  being  reserved  for  the  use  of  the  Bishop,  if  he  be  present, 
even  though  a  Priest  has  been  the  Celebrant. 

It  is  provided  that  what  remains  of  the  consecrated 
elements  shall  be  reverently  consumed,  and  not  carried 
out  of  the  Church.  The  universal  custom  in  the  Primitive 
Church  was  for  the  Deacons  to  carry  the  Sacrament  to 
the  sick,  and  to  those  absent  for  similar  reasons.  Though 
this  is  not  now  the  rule,  and  though  the  Church  has  pro- 
vided a  special  office  for  the  Communion  of  the  Sick,  this 
rubric  has  not  usually  been  construed  to  forbid  the  reser- 
vation of  a  portion  of  the  consecrated  elements  for  use  in 
certain  extreme  cases,  as  of  epidemic,  or  the  insufficiency 
of  Clergy,  or  the  lack  of  decent  conditions  in  the  crowded 
portions  of  great  cities.  There  is  no  direction  for  what  is 
called  the  Ablutions,  but  a  proper  reverence  has  dictated 
the  custom  of  pouring  a  little  water,  or  water  and  wine,  into 
the  vessels  in  order  to  enable  the  Minister  to  "reverently" 
consume  any  remainder  that  might  still  adhere  to  them. 

The  custom  of  Reserving  a  portion  of  the  Holy 
Sacrament,  in  order  to  permit  reception  by  the  sick,  and 
others  hindered  from  coming  to  the  public  administration, 
was  the  universal  rule  of  the  Primitive  Church  as  described 
by  Justin  Martyr  about  a.d.  150,  and  is  still  the  rule  of 
the  whole  Eastern  Church  2    In  the  Western  Church  in  med- 

1  Prin.  Div.  Ser.  I,  225,  226;  II,  pp.  320,  321. 

2  First  ApoL  Chap.  65. 


198  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


iaeval  days  reservation  had  come  to  be  employed  in  a 
very  different  way,  namely  for  purposes  of  devotion  and 
adoration.  "This  later  Western  use  of  the  reserved  Sacra- 
ment," writes  Bishop  Gore  of  Oxford,  "as  a  permanent 
centre  of  devotion  has  not  behind  it  either  Catholic  or  an- 
cient authority.  The  Eastern  Church  does  not  know  it, 
and  the  ancient  Church  did  not  know  it.  It  has  not  the 
sanction  of  our  own  part  of  the  Church,  the  Church  of 
England."1 

In  the  Book  of  1549  this  practice  of  constant  reservation 
was  abandoned,  and  the  primitive  rule  was  restored.  If  the 
need  fell  upon  a  day  when  the  Holy  Communion  was  cele- 
brated in  church,  the  Priest  was  ordered  to  "reserve  (at 
the  open  Communion)  so  much  of  the  Sacrament  of  the 
Body  and  Blood  as  shall  serve  the  sick  person,  and  so  many 
as  shall  communicate  with  him.  And  so  soon  as  he  con- 
veniently may,  after  the  open  Communion  ended  in  the 
Church,  shall  go  and  minister  the  same,  etc.  .  .  .  And  if 
there  be  more  sick  to  be  visited  the  same  day  that  the  Curate 
doth  celebrate  in  any  sick  man's  house,"  when  there  is  no 
celebration  in  the  Church,  the  same  rule  of  reservation  is 
to  be  observed  as  at  the  public  celebration.  In  the  Book 
of  1552  this  provision  was  omitted,  and  has  not  since  been 
restored  in  the  English,  Irish,  or  American  Books.  2 

1  Oxford  Diocesan  Magazine,  Oct.,  1915. 

2  In  view  of  the  needs  of  large  city  parishes,  crowded  tenement  houses, 
and  the  lack  of  decent  provision  for  the  externals  of  a  reverent  service, 
both  Houses  of  the  Convocation  of  Canterbury  adopted  in  1915  the  fol- 
lowing new  rubric  (which  has  not  yet,  however,  become  the  law  of  the 
whole  Church  of  England):  —  "When  the  Holy  Communion  cannot  be 
reverently  or  without  grave  difficulty  celebrated  in  private,  and  also  when 
there  are  several  sick  persons  in  the  parish  desirous  to  receive  the  Com- 
munion on  the  same  day,  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  Priest  (with  the 
consent  of  the  sick  person),  on  any  day  when  there  is  a  celebration  of  the 


COMMUNION  AND  POST-COMMUNION  199 

The  Scottish  Church  has  the  following  rubric:  — 

"According  to  long  existing  custom  in  the  Scottish  Church, 
the  Presbyter  may  reserve  so  much  of  the  Consecrated 
Gifts  as  may  be  required  for  the  Communion  of  the  sick, 
and  others  who  could  not  be  present  at  the  celebration  in 
church." 

The  Black  Rubric,  as  it  is  called,  defends  the  custom 
of  kneeling  to  receive  the  Holy  Communion  against  those 
Puritans  who  objected  to  it  "either  out  of  ignorance  and  in- 
firmity, or  out  of  malice  and  obstinacy."  It  was  appended 
to  the  office  in  1552,  and  after  being  omitted  in  1559,  was 
restored  in  1662,  but  with  an  important  alteration.  The 
earlier  form  had  declared  that  "no  adoration  was  done  or 
ought  to  be  done,  either  unto  the  Sacramental  Bread  or 
Wine  there  bodily  received,  or  unto  any  real  and  essential 
Presence  there  being  of  Christ's  natural  Flesh  and  Blood." 
The  words  "real  and  essential  Presence"  were  changed  to 
"any  Corporal  Presence,"  thus  retaining  the  protest  against 
transubstantiation,  while  guarding  against  any  denial  of 
our  Lord's  real  and  essential  Presence  in  the  Sacrament. 
The  rubric  was  omitted  from  the  American  Book  of  1789. 

Holy  Communion  in  the  church,  to  set  apart  at  the  open  Communion, 
etc.,"  as  in  the  Book  of  1549.  It  also  provides  that  if  the  elements  are 
not  taken  immediately  to  the  sick  person,  "they  shall  be  kept  in  such  place 
as  the  Ordinary  shall  approve,  so  that  they  be  not  used  for  any  other  pur- 
pose whatever." 


CHAPTER  XXI 


Daily  Morning  and  Evening  Prayer:  Matins 

and  Evensong 

"Tbou  makest  the  outgoings  of  the  morning  and  evening  to  praise 
Thee."  —  Psalm  lxv,  8. 


S  we  have  seen  in  the  Eucharistic  Service  the  ful- 


^t\.  filment  and  successor  of  the  Paschal  Service  of  the 
older  Church,  so  we  find  in  the  daily  Offices  of  Matins  and 
Evensong  1  the  successor  of  the  daily  prayers  of  the  Temple 
and  synagogue.  The  early  Christians,  in  addition  to  their 
"Breaking  of  the  Bread,"  that  is,  celebrating  the  Holy 
Communion,  "at  home,"  "continued  daily  with  one  accord 
in  the  Temple,"  where  prayers  were  offered  up  at  9  a.m. 
and  3  p.m.2 

It  is  very  noteworthy  that  only  in  the  Anglican  Com- 
munion are  these  two  primitive  offices  of  Divine  Service 
preserved  for  the  use  of  the  people.  In  all  other  branches 
of  the  Catholic  Church  they  are  confined  to  the  clergy. 
It  is  one  of  the  glories  of  the  English-speaking  Church  that 

1  Acts  ii,  46;  iii,  I. 

2  Matins,  or  Mattins,  and  Evensong  are  the  alternative  and  more 
convenient  words  used  in  the  Calendar  of  the  English  Prayer  Book.  Even- 
song is  the  later  form  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Evensang  for  Nones  (3  p.m.), 
as  Nightsang  was  the  name  for  Vespers  (Maskell,  Mon.  Rit.  II,  viii.).  It 
was  the  popular  word  even  in  mediaeval  times,  according  to  the  proverb, 
"Be  the  day  short  or  ever  so  long,  At  length  it  ringeth  to  Evensong." 
"Beautiful  names,  good  English  Reformation  words,"  wrote  Dr.  W.  R. 
Huntington  in  1892,  "which  it  is  a  great  pity  to  have  lost  from  the  Amencan 
Book  in  1789."  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  they  will  be  restored  in  the  revision 
now  in  progress  (1913-1919). 


MATINS  AND  EVENSONG 


all  her  children  have  this  great  privilege  of  daily  worship, 
with  its  moulding  influence  of  psalm  and  lesson,  creed  and 
prayer,  fast  and  feast,  either  public  or  in  private,  though 
it  may  be  only  valued  and  used  by  the  few.  "The  English 
Church  in  this  matter  is  the  heir  of  the  world, "  writes  Free- 
man. "She  may  have  diminished  her  inheritance;  but  all 
other  Western  Churches  have  thrown  it  away."  1 

It  is  then  surely  well  worth  remembering  that  every  day 
throughout  the  year  the  prayers  and  praises  of  this  Book 
are  going  up  unceasingly  to  the  throne  of  God  from  the 
lips  and  hearts  of  devout  worshippers  wherever  the  English 
tongue  is  spoken.  This  thought  should  be  an  inspiration 
to  every  Priest  and  layman  whenever  only  "two  or  three 
are  gathered  together  in  His  Name."  "Were  there  many  at 
the  church  today?"  was  the  question  put  to  a  clergyman 
as  he  returned  from  a  weekday  service.  "The  church  was 
full,"  was  the  reply,  and  to  the  wondering  look  of  his  en- 
quirer he  added,  "full  of  angels."  That  surely  is  also  a 
fact  worth  remembering. 

There  were  only  two  "hours  of  prayer"  in  the  Jewish 
Temple,  namely,  at  the  time  of  the  morning  and  evening 
sacrifice,  between  which  hours  the  Lord  Jesus  was  hanging 

1  Prin.  Div.  Ser.  I,  279.  He  quotes  also  from  Ward's  Divine  Service: 
"  Roman  controversialists  not  unfrequently  compare  the  poverty  of  our 
two  Offices  with  the  richness  of  their  seven."  But  "the  priests  of  that 
Church  keep  these  seven  Offices  to  themselves,  convents  and  cathedral 
choirs  alone  excepted;  and  yet  that  exclusive  use  is  a  burden  to  them. 
Offices  moulded  for  joint  or  common  use  are  muttered  over  in  private; 
and  even  when  sung  in  choir  are  never  listened  to  or  joined  in  by  the  people. 
The  laity  are  absolutely  ignorant  of  the  Psalms,  which  always  formed  the 
chief  manual  of  devotion  in  former  days,  so  much  so  as  to  have  been  called 
'the  Prayer  Book  of  the  Saints.'  The  seven  Penitential  Psalms  are  all 
that  are  known  among  them.  In  France  and  England  the  Sunday  Vesper 
Psalms  are  also  known." 


202   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


on  the  Cross  as  the  true  "Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away 
the  sin  of  the  world,"  1  and  of  whom  these  sacrifices  were 
but  mute  signs  and  foreshadowings.  Devout  men  were 
accustomed  to  mark  the  noon  hour  also  as  a  time  of  prayer, 
as  we  find  Daniel  and  S.  Peter  doing;  2  and  the  Psalmist 
says,  "In  the  evening,  and  morning,  and  at  noon-day  will 
I  pray."  3  But  for  the  public  worship  of  the  congregation 
in  Israel  only  the  evening  and  morning  service  was  the  rule. 
It  would  be  most  natural  that  this  should  become  the  rule 
also  of  the  first  Christian  converts  among  the  Jews.  It 
seems  to  have  become  the  custom  throughout  the  whole 
Church  as  early  as  the  third  century.4  When  "the  Church 
of  Malabar,  said  to  have  been  founded  by  the  apostle  S. 
Thomas,"  writes  Archdeacon  Freeman,  "was  discovered  by 
the  Portuguese  in  1501,  'The  priests/  it  was  found,  'per- 
formed the  Divine  Office  twice  daily,  at  three  in  the  morn- 
ing and  five  in  the  evening'  a  striking  testimony,  as  it  would 
seem,  to  the  general  correctness  of  the  view  which  we  have 
been  led  to,  as  to  the  ancient  practice  in  this  matter."5 
This  daily  worship,  which  as  a  service  in  church  was  "neither 
of  apostolic  nor  early  post-apostolic  date,  .  .  .  had  never- 
theless probably  existed  in  a  rudimentary  form  as  private 
or  household  devotions,  from  a  very  early  period,  and  had 
been  received  into  the  number  of  recognized  public  formu- 
laries previous  to  the  re-organization  of  the  Western  ritual 
after  the  Eastern  model."  6  Its  history  is  therefore  not  so 
easily  traced  as  that  of  the  Eucharistic  worship  of  the 
Liturgy.    Early  notices  show  that  it  consisted  largely 


1  S.  John  i,  29;  Acts  iii,  1;  x,  30.        2  Dan.  vi,  10;  Acts  x,  9. 
8  Psalm  lv,  18. 

4  Bingham,  Antiq.  XIII,  ix,  7:  Maclean,  Ancient  Church  Orders,  59  sq. 
6  Prin.  Div.  Ser.  I,  p.  236. 
8  Ibid.  I,  p.  219. 


MATINS  AND  EVENSONG 


of  "psalms,  and  hymns,  and  spiritual  songs,"  1  especially 
the  great  Gospel  hymns,  Magnificat,  Gloria  in  Excelsis, 
Benedictus,  and  Nunc  Dimitiis.  Lessons  from  Holy  Scrip- 
ture, which  were  introduced  first  into  the  Eucharistic  Office, 
were  not  added  to  the  ordinary  service,  it  is  thought,  until 
about  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century,2  the  Divine  Office, 
as  it  was  called  later,  being  primarily,  if  not  exclusively,  at 
first  one  of  prayer  and  praise  alone,  the  Psalter  forming  its 
very  core. 

In  the  fourth  century  we  find  these  early  morning  and 
evening  services  increased  in  number  and  much  elaborated. 
This  development  naturally  began  in  the  monasteries, 
especially  those  of  Palestine  and  Mesopotamia.  The  sixth 
hour  or  noon  seems  to  have  been  the  first  addition,  and  then 
an  earlier  morning  service.  Other  "Canonical  Hours," 
as  they  were  called,  "came  gradually  into  the  Church, 
and  are  all  of  them  owing  to  the  rules  of  the  Eastern  monas- 
teries for  their  original."  3  In  later  days  these  were  developed 
into  seven  in  number,  known  in  the  Western  Church  by 
the  names  of  Nocturns,  or  Matins,  Prime,  Tierce,  Sext, 
Nones,  Vespers,  and  Completorium,  or  Compline.  As  their 
names  imply,  these  offices  were  said,  Nocturns  or  Matins 
at  dawn,  to  which  a  later  appendix  was  added  called  Lauds; 
Prime  at  the  first  hour  according  to  Oriental  reckoning, 
namely  six  a.m.;  Tierce,  or  third,  at  nine  a.m.;  Sext,  or 
sixth,  at  noon;  Nones,  or  ninth,  at  three  p.m.;  Vespers  at 
six  p.m.;  and  Compline  at  the  completion  of  the  day,  or  bed- 
time. 

The  reason  for  the  choice  of  these  hours,  which  of  course 
could  never  be  observed  except  in  monasteries,  or  by  persons 


1  Eph.  v,  19;  Col.  iii,  16. 

1  Freeman,  I,  237. 

1  Bingham,  Antiq.  XIII,  ix,  8. 


2o4  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


of  great  devotion  and  leisure,  has  been  described  in  the 
following  verse:  — 

At  Matins  bound,  at  Prime  reviled, 

Condemned  to  death  at  Tierce, 
Nailed  to  the  Cross  at  Sext, 

At  Nones  His  blessed  side  they  pierce: 
They  take  Him  down  at  Vesper-tide, 

In  grave  at  Compline  lay, 
So  thenceforth  holy  zeal  observes 

These  sevenfold  Hours  alway. 

Writing  concerning  the  gradual  development  of  this 
system  in  the  Western  Church,  Archdeacon  Freeman  says: 
—  "Not  content  with  enriching  —  a  task  which  she  executed 
most  admirably  —  her  old  framework  with  elements  drawn 
from  every  region  of  the  East,  she  multiplied  her  services 
at  the  same  time;  thus  piling  together  a  structure  which 
from  its  cumbersomeness  has  fallen  into  utter  decay,  leav- 
ing but  a  single  fragment  erect  among  its  ruins."  1 

It  was  then  out  of  these  services  that  the  revisers  of  the 
sixteenth  century  formed  the  two  offices  of  our  Prayer 
Book,  and  thus  returned  to  the  use  of  the  earliest  days  when 
the  people,  as  well  as  ecclesiastics  and  ascetics,  took  their 
part  in  the  daily  worship  of  the  Church.  The  Breviary, 
or,  as  it  was  called  in  England,  the  Portuase,  or  Portuary, 
was  the  book  which  contained  these  elaborate  offices,  but 
as  it  required  four  volumes  (one  for  each  quarter  of  the  year) 
to  give  them  with  all  their  fulness  of  psalm,  and  hymn,  and 
lesson,  and  prayer,  and  antiphon,  and  rubric,  the  names 
which  were  originally  applied  to  them  as  signifying  brevity 
and  portableness,  became  utter  misnomers.  Matins,  Lauds, 
and  Prime  were  condensed  by  the  revisers  into  Morning 
Prayer;    while  Vespers  and  Compline  were  the  basis  of 

1  Prin.  Div.  Ser.y  I,  p.  232. 


MATINS  AND  EVENSONG  205 


Evensong.1  Nor  was  this  any  great  departure  from  what 
by  sheer  necessity  had  become  already  a  well  established 
custom,  namely  to  abbreviate  and  unite  the  several  offices 
which,  even  for  ecclesiastics,  had  become  so  cumbersome 
as  to  be  impossible.2 

It  must  not  be  overlooked  that  Matins  and  Evensong,  as 
in  our  present  book,  are  formed  upon  a  definite  plan,  and  fol- 
low the  lines  and  order  of  the  earlier  services  of  the  Breviary. 
They  have  three  distinct  divisions:  —  (1)  the  penitential 
introduction,  consisting  of  Sentences  from  Holy  Scripture, 
an  Exhortation  to  repentance,  a  General  Confession,  and 
Absolution,  ending  with  the  Lord's  Prayer;  (2)  acts  of 
Praise  and  Thanksgiving,  beginning  with  the  versicles, 
"0  Lord,  open  Thou  our  lips"  etc.,  and  the  Invitatory 
Psalm,  or  Venite,  followed  by  the  Psalter  for  the  day,  Les- 
sons from  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  each  followed  by 
other  acts  of  praise,  Te  Deum  or  Benedicite,  Benedictus,  or 
Psalm;  and  (3)  Prayers  and  Intercessions. 

The  first  Revised  Book  began  the  service  with  the  Lord's 
Prayer.  The  Sentences,  Exhortation,  etc.  were  added 
in  the  second  Book  (1552),  and  have  been  retained  ever 
since.3  These  additions,  however,  were  not  without  their 
examples  in  the  earlier  daily  offices  of  the  English  Church. 
The  Capitula,  or  verses  from  Holy  Scripture  in  the  old  Lent 

1  See  Freeman  I,  288-9. 

J  Clement  VII.  entrusted  the  Spanish  Cardinal  Quignon  with  the  re- 
forming of  the  Breviary  about  1529,  and  his  work  was  published  in  1535. 
His  introduction  of  so  much  of  Holy  Scripture,  and  omission  of  doubtful 
legends,  however,  caused  the  Pope  to  prohibit  the  book  in  1558.  An 
attempted  reform  of  other  offices  in  German  was  published  by  Hermann, 
Prince  Bishop  of  Cologne,  in  1542,  which  was  also  prohibited  and  its 
author  excommunicated  in  1546. 

1  The  American  Church  in  1892  added  other  Sentences  appropriate 
to  the  Church  seasons. 


206  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


services  gave  the  revisers  their  model  here,  while  "an  Ex- 
hortation preparatory  to  Absolution  was  a  regular  part  of 
the  office  for  the  Visitation  of  the  Sick.  Also  a  public  Ex- 
hortation in  English  was  sometimes  used  preparatory  to 
Communion,  followed  by  a  Confession  also  in  English, 
and  an  Absolution  in  Latin."  1  It  was  thus  evidently  in- 
tended that  this  public  Confession  and  Absolution,  both 
here  and  in  the  Eucharistic  Office,  should  ordinarily  take 
the  place  of  the  private  or  auricular  Confession  and  Absolu- 
tion that  had  been  the  rule  of  England  and  the  Western 
Church  during  the  Middle  Ages.2  It  did  not  indeed  prohibit 
such  private  and  particular  Confession  and  Absolution,  "if 
there  be  any  who"  by  other  means  "cannot  quiet  his  own 
conscience."  3  It  only  provided  a  service  by  which  all  who 
are  not  so  burdened  may  receive  the  benefit  of  Absolution 
in  accordance  with  Christ's  command.4 

1  Procter,  205,  206.  In  the  revision  of  the  American  Prayer  Book  in 
1892  the  use  of  the  Exhortation  was  only  made  obligatory  at  Matins  on 
Sunday.  At  all  other  times  a  substitute  was  allowed,  namely,  "Let  us 
humbly  confess  our  sins  unto  Almighty  God."  In  the  earlier  services  of 
the  English  Breviary  there  was  a  Confession  {Confiteor)  and  Absolution, 
but  it  was  confined  to  the  Priest  and  Choir,  and  was  almost  wholly  precatory. 
Now  the  Confession  is  to  be  said  by  "the  whole  Congregation  kneeling," 
and  the  Absolution  "by  the  Priest  alone  standing."  The  Absolution  also 
is  given  a  more  authoritative  character.  While  it  still  prays  for  forgive- 
ness and  perseverance  in  repentance,  it  not  only  asserts  God's  readiness 
to  "pardon  and  absolve,"  but,  through  the  "power  and  commandment 
given  to  His  ministers,"  it  "declares  and  pronounces  to  His  people,  being 
penitent,  the  Absolution  and  Remission  of  their  sins." 

1  See  S.  John  xx,  22,  23;  S.  Matt,  xvi,  19;  xix,  18;  and  see  the  words 
spoken  to  the  Priest  in  Ordination.  The  American  Prayer  Book  allows 
here  as  an  alternative  the  Absolution  in  the  Communion  Office. 

*  First  Exhortation  "when  the  Minister  giveth  warning,  etc."  in  the 
Communion  Office. 

4  Writing  concerning  The  Testament  of  Our  Lord,  one  of  the  most  Recent 
Discoveries  Illustrating  Early  Christian  Life  and  Worship,  p.  84,  Bishop 


MATINS  AND  EVENSONG  207 


This  penitential  and  preparatory  portion  of  the  service 
is  fitly  closed  with  the  Lord's  Prayer,  which  sums  up  all  the 
needs  of  God's  penitent  children,  and  without  which  no  ser- 
vice can  be  complete.1 

Maclean  says,  "Late  comers  had  to  wait  till  they  were  brought  in  by  the 
Deacon,  who  offered  a  special  petition  on  their  behalf  in  the  Litany.  'For 
this  brother  who  is  late,  let  us  beseech  that  the  Lord  give  him  earnestness 
and  labor,  and  turn  away  from  him  every  bond  of  the  world,'  and  so  forth. 
'In  this  way/  the  Testament  naively  remarks,  'earnestness  is  strength- 
ened .  .  .  and  the  despiser  and  the  slothful  is  disciplined.'  This  curious 
feature  remains  to  the  present  day  in  the  Abyssinian  Litany.  Perhaps 
if  we  adopted  this  habit  of  praying  for  late  comers  the  present  unseemly 
rush  during  the  General  Confession  and  Absolution  at  Matins  might  be 
obviated,  and  people  would  be  more  punctual." 

1  It  may  be  noted  here  that  there  is  one  striking  feature  of  the  ancient 
Choir  Offices  absent  from  the  revised  Prayer  Book,  namely,  the  Office  Hymns, 
of  which  there  were  130  in  the  Portuary  alone.  Only  one,  the  Veni  Creator 
Spiritus,  "Come,  Holy  Ghost,"  was  taken  from  the  other  parts  of  the 
Service.  Judging  by  the  two  translations  of  this  mediaeval  Hymn,  it 
may  be  considered  fortunate  that  no  attempt  was  made  on  any  consider- 
able scale  until  the  19th  century  to  translate  these  Hymns  for  the  use 
of  the  Church.  Though  Cranmer  was  a  master  of  prose,  neither  he  nor 
his  associates  seem  to  have  had  the  gift  of  poetry. 


CHAPTER  XXII 


The  Psalter 

Jesus  said,  "All  things  must  be  fulfilled  which  were  written  .  .  .  in  the  Psalms 
concerning  Me." 

"  What  the  heart  is  in  man,  that  the  Psalter  is  in  the  Bible."  —  Joh.  Arnd. 
"Oh  in  what  accents  spake  I  unto  Thee,  my  God,  when  I  read  the  Psalms  of 

David,  those  faithful  songs,  and  sounds  of  devotion,  which  allow  of  no 

swelling  spirit."  —  S.  Augustine. 

THOUGH  many  of  the  Psalms  are  of  a  penitential 
character,  and  express  the  heart's  thought  of  the 
"  afflicted, "  yet  the  great  majority  are  either  acts  of  praise 
and  worship,  or  else  of  trust,  joy,  hope,  and  final  victory. 
It  is  this  dominant  note  of  the  Psalter  that  has  made  it  so 
dear  to  the  heart  of  Christians  of  every  age.  It  is  the  note 
struck  in  the  Venite,  or  95th  Psalm,  which  has  been  the 
Invitatory  Psalm  for  Matins  in  the  Western  Church  from 
the  very  earliest  days.  "It  is  possible,  indeed,"  writes 
Archdeacon  Freeman,  "that  this  Psalm  prefaced  the  entire 
Temple  service.  ...  In  the  East,  the  Psalm  itself  is  not 
used,  but  only  a  threefold  invitation  to  praise,  or  'invita- 
tory/ based  upon  the  first,  third,  and  sixth  verses  of  it."  1 

One  other  note  of  the  Psalter  is  that,  unlike  all  mere 
poetry  of  the  imagination,  it  is  always  the  voice  of  real  life 

1  Prin.  Div.  Ser.,  I,  75,  402.  In  the  American  Prayer  Book  the  Venite 
consists  of  the  first  seven  verses  of  the  95th  Psalm,  and  the  9th  and  13th 
of  the  96th.  The  same  Book  has  a  similar  combination  of  parts  of  Psalms 
in  the  service  for  Thanksgiving  Day.  These  composite  Psalms  are  found 
also  in  English  State  Services,  and  there  are  several  in  the  Mozarabic 
Offices.  See  Neale  and  Littledale,  Commentary  on  the  Psalms.  Vol.  I, 
Dissertation  I,  69. 


THE  PSALTER 


209 


and  real  men.  For  though  inspired  by  God  there  is  nothing 
in  the  entire  Bible  more  thoroughly  human  than  the  book 
of  Psalms.  It  is  not  God  speaking  to  man,  as  in  the  Law 
and  the  Prophets,  the  Gospels  and  the  Epistles,  but  man 
speaking  to  God  —  man  in  despair,  man  in  doubt,  man  in 
sorrow,  man  in  penitence,  crying  "out  of  the  deep,,,  and 
from  the  midst  of  "the  great  waterfloods.,,  Or  again,  it  is 
man  in  praise  and  thankfulness,  rejoicing  in  God's  glory 
in  earth  and  sky,  in  star  and  flower,  or  adoring  His  mani- 
festations of  mercy  in  His  Church  by  the  forgiveness  of 
sins  and  the  blotting  out  of  iniquities.  The  fingers  of  the 
inspired  musicians  have  touched  all  the  keys  of  the  human 
heart.  All  that  men  may  feel  finds  in  the  Psalter  a  respon- 
sive chord  in  all  that  man  has  felt. 

This  is  why,  with  an  instinct  that  is  unerring,  the 
Church  from  the  first  found  in  the  Hymnal  of  the  earlier 
dispensation  the  full  expression  of  her  soul's  deepest  long- 
ings, and  loftiest  desires  —  "the  whole  music  of  the  human 
heart  swept  by  the  hand  of  its  Maker."  1  The  ancient 
Psalmists  had  sounded  all  the  depths,  and  soared  to  all 
the  heights  of  the  soul's  experience,  and  the  Christian 
Church  found  here  a  vehicle  of  worship  prepared  by  the  wis- 
dom of  God,  ready  for  her  use.  Even  our  Lord  upon  the 
Cross  found  in  its  very  words  the  full  expression  of  His 
utmost  needs;  and  not  He  alone,  but  myriads  of  others 
also  have  found  there  "prayers  which,  like  some  mysterious 
vestment  fit  every  human  soul  in  the  attitude  of  suppli- 
cation;—  prayers  for  every  time,  place,  circumstance; 
for  the  bridal  and  the  grave,  the  storm  and  the  battle,  the 
king  and  the  peasant,  the  harlot  sobbing  on  her  knees  on 
the  penitentiary  floor,  and  the  saint  looking  through  the 
lifted  portals  into  the  city  of  God  .  .  .  prayers  for  the 

1  Gladstone. 


2io    PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


seasons  when  the  Church  looks  upon  the  Crucified,  and  for 
those  when  He  bursts  the  bars  of  the  tomb,  and  ascends  to 
His  Father's  Throne.  Such  prayers  the  world  has  never 
seen  but  once."  1 

But  besides  its  answer  to  these  universal  needs,  the 
Psalter  possessed  another,  distinct  note  which  made  it 
doubly  dear  to  the  Christian  mind  and  heart.  The  Lord 
Jesus  after  His  resurrection  had  told  His  Apostles  that, 
not  only  "the  Law  and  the  Prophets,,  had  spoken  of  Him 
beforehand,  but  "the  Psalms"  also,2  and  He  had  "opened 
their  understanding  that  they  might  understand"  the 
things  written  there  "concerning  Him."  Of  this  the  22nd 
Psalm  is  perhaps  the  most  typical  example.  It  is  of  this 
that  Archbishop  Alexander  writes:  — 

"Loaded  with  the  sins  of  the  world,  Jesus  began  the 
Psalm  upon  the  Cross  to  show  that  it  was  His.  Four  out 
of  the  last  Seven  Words  certainly  are  taken  from,  or  refer 
to,  this  portion  of  the  Psalter.  From  the  first  verse  on, 
there  is  scarcely  a  line  that  might  not  have  come  from  the 
pen  of  an  Evangelist;  instead  of  a  colourless  scene,  there 
is  color  and  detail.  .  .  Burning  thirst;  violent  tension  of 
suspended  members,  making  the  frame  like  that  of  a  liv- 
ing skeleton;  rude  spectators  gambling  over  the  raiment; 
some  wrong,  probably  piercing,  done  to  the  hands  and 
feet;  the  &8r)}Mveii>y  the  feeling  strange  and  out  of  place  in 
God's  universe;  —  all  these  are  represented  so  vividly,  so 
powerfully,  so  accurately,  that  Christian  consciousness 
upon  Good  Friday  turns  to  this  Psalm  as  naturally  and 
spontaneously  as  to  the  nineteenth  chapter  of  S.  John.  .  .  . 
But  there  is  more  than  this.  The  Sufferer  passes  to  glory 
by  the  edge  of  the  sword  (or  a  violent  death),  from  the 
lion's  mouth,  from  the  claws  of  the  dog,  from  the  horns  of 
the  unicorn.  .  .  .  The  wonder  of  the  Psalm  is  brought  to 

1  Archbp.  Alexander,  Witness  of  the  Psalms  to  Christy  Lect.  iv,  127, 128. 
*  S.  Luke  xxiv,  44. 


THE  PSALTER 


211 


a  climax  by  the  ordered  development  in  which  all  is  given. 
First,  He  who  suffers  is  laid  into  the  very  dust  of  death. 
Then,  risen  from  that  dust,  He  proclaims  His  Name  to  His 
brethren,  beginning  from  the  Jews,  and  ending  with  the 
Gentiles  from  the  very  furthest  parts  of  the  earth.  To 
understand  all  this  fully,  we  must,  indeed,  remember  those 
deep  words,  '  He  hath  made  Him  to  be  sin  for  us  .  .  .  who 
His  own  self  bare  our  sins  in  His  own  body  on  the 
tree.'  .  .  .  'Psalmorum  clavis  Christi  fides.'  The  golden 
key  of  the  Psalter  lies  in  a  Pierced  Hand."  1 

This  Psalm  does  not  stand  alone,  the  Archbishop  adds:  — 

"It  belongs  to  a  class  of  which  there  is  but  one  consistent 
solution.  Our  Lord's  "Humanity  found  in  them  a  collec- 
tion of  appropriate  devotions  —  Prayer-book,  liturgy,  hymn- 
book,  fitted  and  pre-harmonised  for  a  Divine  Sufferer  and 
Pilgrim.  .  .  .  They  are  lyrics  primarily  of  the  Humanity  of 
our  Lord,  secondarily  of  ours."  2  "The  references  which  they 
contain  to  the  beauty  and  grandeur  of  nature  may  color 
many  pages  of  geography  and  natural  history.  .  .  .  Above 
all,  and  without  this  everything  else  will  be  in  vain,  our 
people  must  be  taught  habitually  to  see  Christ  in  the 
Psalter.  .  .  .  They  must  be  able  to  say  almost  instinc- 
tively: —  In  this  Psalm  is  the  voice  of  the  Sorrow  and  of  the 
Love  of  Jesus.  This  Psalm  speaks  of  His  Passion.  His  are 
the  Pierced  Hands  and  Feet.  He  is  the  Divine  Shepherd. 
Here  I  find  Him  reigning  in  glory.  This  is  He  who  comes 
to  Judgment.  This  Sion  and  Jerusalem  which  is  spoken  of 
is  the  Church.  This  feast  is  the  Eucharist,  this  Table  the 
Table  of  the  Lord,  this  Cup  the  Chalice,  this  Bread  the 
Body  of  Christ.  The  peace  of  which  the  Psalmist  speaks 
is  the  peace  that  passeth  all  understanding,  the  peace  to 


1  The  Witness  of  the  Psalms,  Lect.  I,  iii. 

J  Ibid.  Lect.  II.  The  Archbishop,  in  App.  A  to  Lect.  I,  gives  a  carefully 
prepared  list  of  nearly  three  hundred  quotations  from,  or  references  to, 
the  Greek  Psalter  which  occur  in  the  New  Testament.  One  hundred  of 
these  are  in  the  Gospels,  and  most  of  them  have  direct  reference  to  our 
Lord. 


2i2   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fc?  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


the  weary  when  the  long  day's  work  is  over,  the  peace 
of  Heaven."1 

Side  by  side  with  the  eloquent  words  of  the  learned  Irish 
Primate  in  the  nineteenth  century  it  is  fitting  to  set  the 
words  of  another  great  preacher  of  northern  Africa  in  the 
fourth  century.  In  a  well-known  passage  of  his  Confessions, 
or  spiritual  autobiography,  his  Apologia  pro  Vita  Sua,  S. 
Augustine  writes:  —  "In  what  accents  I  addressed  Thee, 
my  God,  when  I  read  the  Psalms  of  David,2  those  faithful 
songs,  the  language  of  devotion  which  banishes  the  spirit 
of  pride,  while  I  was  still  a  novice  in  true  love  of  Thee, 
and  as  a  catechumen  rested  in  that  country  house  along 
with  Alypius,  who  was  also  a  catechumen,  with  my  mother 
at  our  side,  in  the  dress  of  a  woman  but  with  the  faith  of  a 
man,  with  the  calmness  of  age,  the  affection  of  a  mother,  the 
piety  of  a  Christian.  How  I  addressed  Thee  in  those 
Psalms!  how  my  love  for  Thee  was  kindled  by  them!  How 
I  burned  to  recite  them,  were  it  possible,  throughout  the 
world,  as  an  antidote  to  the  pride  of  humanity." 

A  thoughtful  writer  thus  sums  up  the  wealth  of  blessing 
which  the  constant  use  of  the  Psalter  has  brought  to  men 
through  three  thousand  years:  —  "There  has  gathered 
round  every  Psalm,  nay,  round  every  verse  of  a  Psalm,  a 
vast  treasure  of  spiritual  truth  brought  together  by  the 
tears  and  labors  of  believers  for  many  generations;  the 
Psalms  have  been  life  and  light  for  thousands;  they  have 
been  turned  into  the  prayers  and  thanksgivings  of  innu- 
merable souls  from  the  Lord  of  Glory  Himself  in  the  days 
of  His  Humiliation  down  to  the  humblest  and  meanest 
of  His  servants;  almost  every  word  in  them  has  brought 
guidance,  relief,  refreshment  to  some  men."  3 

1  The  Witness  of  the  Psalms,  Lect.  VIII. 

2  Though  the  Prayer  Book,  in  common  with  S.  Augustine,  uses  this 
title,  Psalms  of  David,  it  is  only  because  David  is  the  author  of  most  of 
the  Psalms,  and  he  to  whom  the  spirit  of  ancient  psalmody  owes  its  greatest 
debt.  As  may  be  seen  by  reference  to  the  Bible  version,  many  of  the 
Psalms  are  by  Asaph,  some  by  Moses,  Solomon,  and  others  of  much 
later  date. 

3  Practical  Reflections  on  the  Psalms,  viii. 


THE  PSALTER 


213 


The  question  of  the  use  of  the  "Imprecatory  Psalms" 
in  the  Christian  Church  is  too  large  and  too  difficult  a  sub- 
ject to  be  dealt  with  fully  here.  Whatever  may  have  been 
in  the  mind  of  the  Hebrew  Psalmists  with  their  lower  ideas 
and  lesser  knowledge,  two  things  are  to  be  remembered 
about  these  particular  Psalms;  first,  that  God's  hatred  and 
punishment  of  sin  is  expressed  by  the  merciful  lips  of  our 
Lord  and  Judge  Himself,  in  language  stronger  and  more 
terrible  than  any  Psalmist  ever  used; 1  and  second,  that 
the  "enemies"  against  whom  the  Psalmists  bid  us  pray 
are  foes  that  "war  against  the  soul."  "The  broad  gates 
are  flung  wide  open  of  the  city  that  lies  foursquare  towards 
all  the  winds  of  heaven;  for  its  ruler  is  divinely  tolerant. 
But  there  shall  in  no  wise  enter  it  anything  that  defileth, 
neither  worketh  abomination;  for  He  is  divinely  intolerant 
too.  And  thus  when,  in  public  or  private,  we  read  these 
Psalms  of  imprecation,  there  is  a  lesson  that  comes  home  to 
us.  .  .  .  Reading  them  we  must  depart  from  sin,  or  pro- 
nounce judgment  upon  ourselves.  Every  known  sin  of 
flesh  and  spirit  —  these,  and  not  mistaken  men,  are  the 
worst  enemies  of  God  and  of  His  Christ.  Against  these 
we  pray  in  our  Collects  for  Peace  at  Morning  and  Evening 
Prayer  —  'Defend  us  in  all  assaults  of  our  enemies.'  —  These 
were  the  dark  hosts  that  swept  through  the  Psalmist's  vision 
when  he  cried,  'Let  all  mine  enemies  be  ashamed  and  sore 
vexed."'2 

Bishop  Butler's  characterization  of  Resentment  may  also 
be  of  some  service  in  this  connection.  "The  indignation 
raised  by  cruelty  and  injustice  and  the  desire  of  having  it 
punished,  which  persons  unconcerned  —  and  in  a  higher  de- 

1  See  S.  Matt,  xviii,  6;  xxiii,  13  sq.;  xxv,  41;  xxvi,  24;  and  cf.  Rev. 
vi,  16. 

*  Witness  of  the  Psalms  to  Christ.    Lect.  II. 


2i4   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


gree  those  who  were  concerned  —  would  feel,  is  by  no 
means  malice.  It  is  one  of  the  common  bonds  by  which 
society  is  held  together  —  a  weapon  put  into  our  hands  by 
nature  .  .  .  which  may  be  innocently  employed  .  .  .  one 
of  the  instruments  of  death  which  the  Author  of  our  nature 
hath  provided  .  .  .  not  only  an  innocent  but  a  generous 
movement  of  the  mind  ...  a  settled  and  deliberate  pas- 
sion implanted  in  man  for  the  prevention  and  remedy  of 
wrong."  1 

To  this  may  be  added  the  opinions  of  two  representatives 
of  very  diverse  schools  of  thought.  Dean  Stanley  writes: 
—  "The  duty  of  keeping  alive  in  the  heart  the  sense  of 
burning  indignation  against  moral  evil,  against  selfishness, 
against  injustice,  against  untruth,  in  ourselves  as  well 
as  in  others,  —  that  is  as  much  a  part  of  the  Christian 
as  of  the  Jewish  dispensation."  These  "imprecations," 
writes  Bishop  Gore,  "are  not  the  utterances  of  selfish 
spite:  they  are  the  claim  which  righteous  Israel  makes 
upon  God  that  He  would   vindicate   Himself,  and  let 

1  Sermon  VIII.  At  least  a  partial  solution  of  the  problem  may  be 
found  in  the  theory  advocated  by  the  learned  Jew,  Moses  Mendelssohn 
(1729-1786),  who  held  that  the  imprecations  are  not  those  of  the  Psalmist 
himself,  but  are  those  uttered  by  his  enemies  and  persecutors.  It  is  to 
be  remembered  that  the  Hebrew  had  nothing  corresponding  to  our  in- 
verted commas  to  mark  a  quotation.  The  second  Psalm  is  a  typical  in- 
stance of  this  change  from  the  words  of  one  speaker  to  another  without 
sign  or  warning,  and  of  which  there  are  many  other  examples  in  the  Psalms 
and  Prophets.  In  Psalm  cix,  verse  27  seems  plainly  to  imply  that  verses 
5-19  are  the  words  of  "the  ungodly"  in  verse  1.  All  difficulties  may  not 
be  removed  by  this  theory,  but  those  that  remain  are  trifling  in  compari- 
son, and  seem  capable  of  solution.  See  Luckock,  Spiritual  Diff.  in  the 
Bible  and  Pr.  Bk.,  pp.  52-75.  "None  of  the  imprecatory  Psalms  are  to  be 
found  in  the  Jewish  Prayer  Book"  of  today  (Sir  Edwd.  Clarke,  Pr.  Bk. 
Version  Corrected,  xxi). 


THE  PSALTER 


215 


their  eyes  see  how  'rightousness  turns  again  unto  judg- 
ment.  1 

One  other  noteworthy  feature  of  the  Psalms  as  the  divinely 
ordained  vehicle  of  Catholic  Christian  worship  for  every 
race  and  language  is  their  fitness  for  translation  into  other 
tongues  without  loss  of  strength  or  beauty.  "The  Church 
is  Catholic,  languages  are  particular"  Dr.  Alexander  writes. 
"And  this  difficulty  arises.  Poetry  is  somewhat  impatient 
of  translation.  It  is  a  wine  that  is  too  delicate  to  cross  the 
sea.  Few  poetical  translations  have  ever  been  popular,  and 
those  few  have  scarcely  been  correct  representations  of 
their  originals.  ...  It  is  certain  almost  to  demonstration, 
that  the  Hebrews  never  possessed  the  notion  of  metrical  art, 
as  it  was  practised  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans.  .  .  . 
There  is  little  or  no  discoverable  symmetry  of  measure 
or  concurrence  of  sound,  addressed  to  the  ear.  There  is  a 
symmetry  of  sense,  addressed  to  the  intellect  [called  paral- 
lelism^. .  .  .  The  most  frequent  form  of  parallelism  is  the 
simple  sequence  of  two  following  verses  which  reproduce 
the  same  idea  in  other  words.  But  the  parallelism  some- 
times extends  to  three,  or  even  four  verses;  occasionally 
the  two  first  and  the  two  last  rhyme  by  the  idea  or  thought, 
occasionally  the  third  corresponds  with  the  fourth,  or  the 
fourth  with  the  second."  It  is  this  parallelism  more  than 
anything  else  which  enabled  the  Psalms  to  occupy  their 
place  in  the  worship  of  the  Church  among  all  nations. 
"Other  poetry  translated  verbatim  loses  the  very  essence  of 
its  poetical  character,  because  it  loses  the  measure  and 
cadence  of  its  words.  But  Hebrew  poetry  can  only  be  given 
in  exact  translation.    It  is  destroyed  by  being  turned  into 


1  Lux  Mundi.  Compare  also  W.  T.  Davison  in  Hastings'  Die.  of  the 
BibU,  IV,  159. 


216   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


verse  as  much  as  other  poetry  is  destroyed  by  being  turned 
into  prose."  1 

Of  the  peculiarities  and  excellences  of  our  Prayer  Book 
version  in  this  respect  there  is  much  to  be  said.  It  is  the 
translation  which  formed  part  of  the  "Great  Bible,"  based 
on  that  of  Coverdale,  published  under  the  editorship  of 
Archbishop  Cranmer  in  1539,  and  ordered  to  be  set  up  in 
all  churches  the  following  year.  It  is  not  so  accurate  a 
translation  as  that  of  the  so-called  Authorized  Version  of 
161 1,  but  it  bears  the  mark  of  Cranmer's  admirable  felicity 
of  rhythmical  English.  It  has  been  said  of  it  that  it  is 
"the  translation  of  a  poet,  and  not  of  a  dictionary."2  It 
is  so  adapted  for  musical  rendering,  and  it  so  endeared 
itself  to  the  people,  that  later  translations  have  never  been 
allowed  to  supplant  it. 

It  is  in  connection  with  this  version  that  Liddon  writes: 
—  "Every  language  appears  to  reach  its  bloom  at  a  cer- 
tain period  in  the  history  of  the  nation  which  speaks  and 
writes  it;  and  thenceforward  to  decline.  And  for  the 
English  language  the  sixteenth  century  was  the  period  of 
consummate  excellence;  the  decline  had  begun  even  at 
the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth.  The  English  writers 
of  the  sixteenth  century  —  and  Archbishop  Cranmer  in 
particular  —  had  an  ear  for  English  which  has  not  been 
given  even  to  the  most  gifted  of  their  successors;  and  their 
work  is  unapproached  in  its  simple  and  forcible  vocabulary, 
and  still  more  in  the  order  and  beauty  of  its  rhythm.  This 
appears  partly  in  the  Collects  of  the  Prayer  Book,  but 

1  Witness  of  the  Psalms,  etc.  Lect.  VI.  Thus  "Hebrew  poetry  carries 
its  lyric  rhythm  into  the  very  thought  itself."  (Moulton,  Modern  Reader  s 
Bible,  p.  143 1.)  The  musical  colon  in  our  Prayer  Book  version  of  the 
Psalter  usually  marks  the  division  between  the  two  parallel  thoughts. 
Psalm  xvii,  3  is  an  example  of  a  triple  parallelism;  xviii,  1  of  a  quadruple. 

2  Sir  Edward  Clarke. 


THE  PSALTER 


217 


especially  in  the  version  of  the  Psalms,  which  is  perhaps 
the  most  beautiful  thing,  without  exception,  that  is  peculiar 
to  the  modern  Church  of  England.  It  deserves  all  that 
has  been  said  by  masters  of  our  language  about  the  Author- 
ized Version,  and  a  great  deal  more;  and  we  may  hope 
that  the  danger,  if  it  ever  seriously  existed,  of  replacing  it 
in  our  Daily  Services  by  some  substitute  of  later  origin, 
has  passed  away  for  ever."  1 

One  other  though  minor  feature  which  has  helped  to  com- 
mend the  Prayer  Book  version  to  many  is  that,  unlike  all 
modern  translations  of  the  Psalms  made  directly  from  the 
Hebrew  original,  this  one  was  made  conjointly  from  the 
three  versions  represented  by  the  inscription  on  the  Cross, 
"Hebrew,  Greek,  and  Latin."  These  were  (1)  the  Hebrew 
text  as  it  had  come  down  in  the  care  of  the  rabbinical  schools; 
(2)  the  Septuagint  or  Greek  translation,  made  by  seventy- 
two  learned  Jews  at  Alexandria  about  B.C.  270,  and  always 
quoted  by  the  New  Testament  authors,  and  (3)  the  Latin 
translation,  or  Vulgate  (the  revised  version  of  the  older 
imperfect  Italic),  made  by  S.  Jerome  about  a.d.  390,  which 
since  his  day,  after  the  eighth  century  at  least,  had  become 
the  common  use  of  all  the  Western  Church.  It  is  to  the 
Vulgate  we  owe  the  Latin  headings  of  our  Prayer  Book  ver- 
sion. These  are  simply  the  first  words  of  each  Psalm, 
which  in  mediaeval  days  had  become  their  familiar  titles, 
as  the  first  Latin  words  of  the  Venite,  the  Te  Deum,  Bene- 
dicite,  Magnificat,  etc.  have  become  to  us. 

It  is  much  to  be  desired  that  brief  descriptive  titles  in 
English  might  also  be  given  to  the  Psalms.  This  would 
be  of  great  help  in  their  devotional  use.  Imagine  a  book 
of  English  poetry  without  titles,  or  only  titles  in  Latin, 
and  these  mere  translations  of  the  first  words  of  each  poem 

1  Preface  to  Practical  Reflections  on  the  Psalms,  pp.  ix,  x. 


218   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


in  English!1  The  abandonment  by  the  revisers  of  one 
universal  feature  in  the  use  of  the  Psalms  in  the  Western 
Church  makes  this  adoption  of  titles  in  English  all  the  more 
desirable.  I  refer  to  the  employment  of  what  were  called 
Antiphons,  brief  sentences  or  versicles  said  or  sung  before 
or  after  a  Psalm,  illustrating  or  emphasising  some  special 
feature  of  its  character.  "There  can  be  no  doubt,"  writes 
Archbishop  Alexander,  "that,  in  many  cases,  this  has  been 
the  noblest  of  all  commentaries  upon  the  Psalms  for  the 
purpose  of  public  worship,  and  the  best  means  of  drawing 
out  their  manifold  significance.  We  may  take  the  First 
Psalm  as  a  very  favourable  specimen.  On  any  ordinary 
day,  the  Psalm  was  applied  to  the  Christian's  common 
duty  in  life  by  the  Antiphon  'Serve  the  Lord  in  fear.'  If 
it  were  the  commemoration  of  a  Saint  or  Martyr,  the  true 
root  of  the  saintly  character  was  signified  by  means  of  an 
Antiphon  taken  from  this  very  Psalm,  'His  delight  is  in  the 
law  of  the  Lord/  On  Passion  Sunday  it  was  declared  that 
it  is  Christ  who,  when  hanging  on  the  Cross,  made  it  'like 
a  tree  which  brings  forth  fruit  in  due  season,  and  whose 
leaf  will  not  wither/  At  Easter  the  Antiphon  is,  'I  am  that 
I  am,  and  My  counsel  is  not  with  the  wicked,  but  in  the 
law  of  the  Lord  is  My  delight.  Alleluia/"  2  "Were  any 
of  the  methods  of  service,  which  were  laid  aside  at  our 
Revision,  to  be  selected  for  restoration,"  writes  Archdeacon 
Freeman,  "I  conceive  that  the  antiphons,  with  this  restricted 
application  to  special  seasons  and  to  Festivals,  would  pos- 
sess a  weighty  claim  upon  the  Church's  consideration.  A 

1  An  imperfect  attempt  has  been  made  at  the  end  of  this  chapter  to 
provide  such  titles  in  English.  If  written  into  one's  Prayer  Book  version 
they  might  be  found  by  many  an  aid  to  the  intelligent  use  of  this  great 
book  of  the  Church's  devotion. 

*  Lecture  VI. 


THE  PSALTER 


219 


single  antiphon,  fixed  for  the  season,  and  said  before  and 
after  the  entire  psalmody  of  each  day,  would  involve  com- 
paratively little  complexity,  and  would  greatly  help  to 
sustain  the  character  of  such  seasons  as  Christmas,  Lent, 
and  Easter:  during  the  last  of  which,  indeed,  such  a  single 
antiphon  was  used."  1 

Writing  concerning  this  method  of  giving  the  tone  and 
emphasis  to  the  Psalms  proper  to  the  season,  Dr.  Neale 
says:  —  "The  same  sun-ray  from  the  Holy  Ghost  rested 
indeed  at  all  times  on  the  same  words,  but  the  prism  of  the 
Church  separated  that  colorless  light  into  its  component 
rays;  into  the  violet  of  penitence,  the  crimson  of  martyr- 
dom, the  gold  of  the  highest  seasons  of  Christian  gladness. 
Hence  arose  the  wonderful  system  of  antiphons."  2 

There  were  four  methods  of  singing  the  Psalms  from  the 
earliest  times.  (1)  The  Cantus  Directus,  as  it  was  called, 
the  singing  of  every  verse  by  the  full  choir,  without  response. 
(2)  The  Antiphonal,  each  verse,  half  verse,  or  parallelism  (as 
marked  by  colon),  being  sung  alternately  by  opposite  sides 
of  the  choir.  (3)  The  Precentor  and  choir  taking  alternate 
verses,  or  half  verses.    (4)  A  solo,  sung  by  a  single  voice.3 

In  the  mediaeval  Church  the  Psalter  was  arranged  to  be 
read  or  sung  through  once  each  week.  But  this  was  only 
possible  in  the  monastic  bodies,  and  even  there  the  rule 

1  Prin.  Div.  Ser.,  I,  122,  123.  The  Antiphon  was  undoubtedly  over- 
done, and  the  Farce  seems  to  be  its  degenerate  offspring.  "A  Farce," 
writes  Dr.  Neale,  "is  the  insertion  in  a  Gospel,  Epistle,  or  Canticle,  of 
intercalated  sentences,  intended  to  have  the  same  effect  as  an  Antiphon" 
(Comm.  on  Psalms.  Diss.  I,  40,  42).  This  was  carried  so  far  that  it  became 
absurd.  Hence  the  word  came  to  be  used  for  a  ludicrous  play  as  at  present. 
The  Farce  was  given  up  after  the  10th  century,  and  the  Antiphon  was  only 
said  before  and  after  each  Psalm  —  later,  before  and  after  several  Psalms  — 
and  varied  according  to  the  day  or  season,  thus  giving  to  the  portion  its 
proper  tone. 

2  Comm.  on  the  Psalms,  Dissertation  I,  section  34.       3  Ibid.  p.  58. 


22o   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


had  so  many  exceptions  that  it  was  said  by  the  revisers, 
"Now  of  late  time  a  few  [of  the  psalms]  have  been  daily 
said,  and  the  rest  utterly  omitted.,,  1  The  present  rule  by 
which  the  whole  Psalter  is  divided  arbitrarily  into  sixty 
portions  may  not  be  ideal,  but  it  has  at  least  the  merit  of 
having  made  the  Psalms  "familiar  as  household  words" 
to  the  vast  body  of  English-speaking  lay  people  as  well  as 
clergy,  though  it  is  only  realized  by  the  few  how  much  they 
are  indebted  to  this  constant  repetition  for  the  mould  and 
form  of  their  own  spiritual  life.  It  was  the  remark  of  M. 
Taine,  who  knew  England  and  the  English  better  than 
any  other  Frenchman  ever  did,  that  the  English  character, 
the  strong  sense  of  duty  and  righteousness,  had  been  fos- 
tered and  consolidated  by  the  constant  recitation  of  the 
Psalms  of  David.  And  in  this  the  Psalter  is  different  from 
every  other  religious  poetry  in  the  world.  It  has  nothing 
like  it,  or  even  second  to  it.  It  has  been  said  of  the  Vedas 
or  sacred  hymns  of  India,  that  "they  are  or  have  been  for 
ages  dead  relics.  .  .  .  known  in  their  real  spirit  and  meaning 
to  a  few  students.  The  Psalms  are  as  living  as  when  they 
were  written;  and  they  have  never  ceased  to  be,  what  we 
may  be  very  certain  they  have  been  today,  this  very  day 
which  is  just  ending,  to  hundreds  and  thousands  of  the 
most  earnest  souls  now  alive."  2 

1  Concerning  the  Service  of  the  Church  in  the  English  Book.  See  also 
Neale  and  Littledale,  Comm.  on  the  Psalms,  I,  Dissertation  I,  27. 

2  Dean  Church,  The  Gifts  of  Civilization,  pp.  385,  388,  391.  The  Scot- 
tish Church  by  her  Bishops  (June,  1915)  adopted  an  ingenious  method  of 
using  the  Psalter,  which  might  well  be  copied  by  other  branches  of  the 
Anglican  Communion.  The  present  principle  of  continuous  recitation 
in  sixty  consecutive  portions  is  preserved,  but  these  are  to  be  used  only 
on  weekdays,  not  according  to  the  civil  Calendar,  but  to  that  of  the  Chris- 
tian Year;  every  Sunday  having  its  proper  Psalms,  and  usually  fe^.er 
in  number  than  at  present.    Thus  the  whole  Psalter  is  recited  in  five  weeks 


THE  PSALTER 


221 


It  should  be  needless  to  point  out  that  the  Psalms  by 
their  very  nature  were  written  to  be  sung,  and  were  sung 
antiphonally,  that  is,  by  alternate  verses,  or  rather,  paral- 
lelisms or  half  verses,  by  opposite  sides  of  the  choirs  of 
Levites  in  the  Temple,  and  they  continued  to  be  sung  thus 
in  the  Primitive  Church.  The  Church  historian  Socrates, 
at  the  end  of  the  fourth  century,  attributes  the  introduction 
of  this  method  into  the  Church  to  S.  Ignatius,  the  martyr 
Bishop  of  Antioch,  at  the  beginning  of  the  second  century.1 
Duchesne  says  that  "up  to  the  fourth  century  the  Psalms 
were  always  sung  as  a  solo,,,  that  is,  by  a  precentor,  "the 
congregation  repeating  the  last  words  of  the  chant"  as  a 
response,  which  corresponds  to  our  present  method  when 
the  Psalms  are  read.2  S.  Ambrose  adopted  the  antiphonal 
method  of  singing  by  two  sides  of  the  choir  in  the  Diocese 
of  Milan  about  387,  as  we  learn  from  S.  Augustine.3  Later 
it  was  introduced  into  the  Roman  Church.  "All  the  verses 
were  chanted  to  the  same  melody,  but  the  melody  varied 
with  each  Psalm. " 4  Concerning  the  use  of  the  Gloria 
Bingham  says:  —  "In  all  the  Western  Churches,  except  the 

of  six  days  each,  or  more  that  ten  times  in  the  year  on  weekdays.  Be- 
sides this,  "nearly  all  the  whole  Psalter  is  recited  once  in  the  year  on  Sun- 
days, the  majority  of  Psalms  twice,  and  some  three  times."  Proper  Psalms 
are  provided  for  Sundays;  also  for  Christmas,  Holy  Week,  Easter  Week, 
Ascension  Day,  and  Whitsun  Week.  The  American  Book  has  twenty 
Selections  of  Psalms,  in  addition  to  the  Proper  Psalms  for  festivals  and  fasts, 
which  may  be  substituted  for  the  daily  portion  at  the  discretion  of  the 
Minister. 

1  His.  Ecc.y  vi,  8. 

2  It  is  on  account  of  this  response  by  the  congregation  that  the  Psalm 
introduced  in  the  old  English  use  between  the  Epistle  and  the  Gospel 
received  the  name  Respond.  This  was  also  called  the  Gradual,  either 
because  it  was  sung  (as  a  solo)  at  the  gradus,  or  ambo,  or  else  while  the 
Deacon  was  ascending  the  step  {gradus)  of  the  altar  to  read  the  Gospel. 

3  Confessions,  iv,  7.  4  Duchesne,  pp.  113-115. 


222   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


Roman,  it  was  customary  also,  at  the  end  of  every  Psalm, 
for  the  congregation  to  stand,  and  say,  'Glory  be  to  the 
Father,  and  to  the  Son,  and  to  the  Holy  Ghost":  but  in  the 
Eastern  Churches  —  only  at  the  end  of  the  last  Psalm/' 1 

Concerning  this  musical  rendering  of  the  Psalms  Hooker, 
in  his  defence  of  the  custom  as  against  the  objections  of 
the  Puritans  that  this  method  of  singing  was  the  work  of 
the  Devil,  says:  —  "As  for  the  Devil,  which  way  it  should 
greatly  benefit  him  to  have  this  manner  of  singing  Psalms 
accounted  an  invention  of  Ignatius  [pupil  of  S.  John,  and 
Bishop  of  Antioch  about  a.d.  69],  or  an  imitation  of  the  angels 
of  heaven,2  we  do  not  well  understand. "  Then,  after  re- 
ferring to  other  objections  of  the  Puritans,  he  asks:  — 
"And  shall  this  enforce  us  to  banish  a  thing  which  all  Chris- 
tian Churches  in  the  world  have  received;  a  thing  which  so 
many  ages  have  held.  ...  a  thing  whereunto  God's  people 
of  old  did  resort,  with  hope  and  thirst  that  thereby  especially 
their  souls  might  be  edified;  a  thing  which  filleth  the  mind 
with  comfort  and  heavenly  delight.  .  .  .  and  so  fitly  accord- 
eth  with  the  Apostle's  own  exhortation,  'Speak  to  yourselves 
in  psalms  and  hymns  and  spiritual  songs,  making  melody, 
and  singing  to  the  Lord  in  your  hearts,'  that  surely  there  is 
more  cause  to  fear  lest  the  want  thereof  be  a  maim,  than 
the  use  a  blemish  to  the  service  of  God."  3 

1  Antiq.  XIV,  i,  8.  2  Is.  xxxvi,  1-3. 

3  Ecc.  Pol.,  V,  xxxix,  1,  4.  The  Bampton  Lectures  of  Archbishop  Alex- 
ander (1876),  for  their  grasp  of  the  true  character  of  the  Psalms  in  their 
Witness  to  Christ,  in  their  literary  beauty,  and  the  depth  and  richness  of 
their  devotion,  stand  without  a  rival.  Three  other  books  will  be  found 
of  much  value  in  this  connection: — Christ,  the  Key  to  the  Psalter,  by  an 
Oxford  Graduate  (1888);  Practical  Reflections  on  every  Verse  of  the  Psalms, 
with  Preface  by  H.  P.  Liddon,  (1890);  and  The  Psalms  in  Human  Life, 
by  R.  E.  Prothero  (1903);  also  two  Lectures  by  Dean  Church  on  Ea*ly 
Sacred  Poetry  in  The  Gifts  of  Civilization. 


Appendix  I  to  Chapter  XXII 
SUGGESTED  ENGLISH  TITLES  FOR  THE  PSALMS 

"As  a  door  bringetb  one  into  the  bouse,  so  doth  the  title  of  the  Psalm  into  the 
understanding."  —  S.  Augustine. 

Book  I 

PSALM 

1.  The  Way  to  Blessedness. 

2.  "Thou  art  the  King  of  Glory,  O  Christ"  —  An 

Easter  Hymn. 

3.  A  Morning  Hymn  of  Thankfulness. 

4.  An  Evening  Hymn  of  Trust. 

5.  A  Prayer  of  Preparation  for  God's  House. 

6.  Prayer  of  a  Penitent  —  A  Lenten  Litany. 

7.  Song  of  the  Slandered  Saint. 

8.  Song  of  the  Devout  Astronomer  —  An  Ascension 

Hymn. 

9.  A  Song  of  the  Great  Judgment. 

10.  A  Prayer  for  the  Persecuted  and  the  Poor. 

11.  Childlike  Trust  in  Face  of  Unbelief. 

12.  The  Tongues  of  Men  and  the  Words  of  God. 

13.  The  Cry  of  an  Anxious  Heart  —  "How  Long?" 

14.  God's  Judgment  on  the  Unbelieving  Fool. 

15.  God's  Picture  of  a  Righteous  Man  —  An  Ascension 

Hymn. 

16.  "In  Thy  Presence  is  the  Fulness  of  Joy." 

17.  The  Appeal  of  the  Oppressed. 

18.  The  Resolve  of  a  Grateful  Heart. 

19.  God's  Law  in  the  Heavens  and  in  the  Heart  —  An 

Epiphany  Hymn. 

20.  Prayer  for  a  Friend  in  Trouble. 

21.  "Thou  shalt  give  him  Everlasting  Felicity"  —  An 

Ascension  Hymn. 

22.  The  Crucified's  Cry  of  Sorrow  and  of  Victory. 

23.  The  Good  Shepherd  Song. 

24.  "Who  is  the  King  of  Glory?"  —  A  Song  of  the 

Ascension. 


224   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


25.  A  Litany  of  Penitence  and  Supplication. 

26.  A  Hymn  before  the  Altar. 

27.  Three  Glorious  Titles  of  God  —  A  Song  of  Cheer 

and  Hope. 

28.  Strength  for  the  Trusting  Heart  —  A  Song  in  the 

Night. 

29.  Psalm  of  the  Seven  Thunders. 

30.  "Joy  cometh  in  the  Morning"  —  A  Hymn  for  Easter 

Even. 

31.  "Into  Thy  Hands  I  commend  my  Spirit"  —  The 

Cry  of  the  Dying  Lord. 

32.  Blessedness  of  the  Pardoned  Soul. 

33.  The  Greatness  and  the  Goodness  of  God. 

34.  "O  Taste  and  See  how  Gracious  the  Lord  is." 

35.  Prayer  of  the  Persecuted. 

36.  "In  Thee  is  the  Well  of  Life." 

37.  "Fret  not  Thyself  because  of  the  Ungodly." 

38.  Litany  of  the  Penitent. 

39.  The  Shortness  and  Uncertainty  of  Life. 

40.  "I  Waited  Patiently  for  the  Lord."  —  A  Plea  from 

the  Cross. 

41.  Prayer  of  a  Deserted  Soul — A  Cry  from  Gethsemane. 

Book  II 

42.  The  Exile's  Cry  for  God's  Courts. 

43.  "That  I   may  go  unto  the  Altar  of  God"  —  A 

Communion  Hymn. 

44.  "Our  Fathers  have  told  us"  —  An  Appeal  to  History. 

45.  The  King  and  His  Bride  —  (( Concerning  Christ  and 

the  Church." 

46.  "Jesus,  Emmanuel,  God  with  us." 

47.  God  is  the  King  of  all  the  Earth  —  An  Ascension 

Triumph  Song. 

48.  "The  Gates  of  Hell  shall  not  Prevail  against  it"— 

A  Whitsun  Hymn. 

49.  "Some  put  their  Trust  in  their  Goods." 

50.  God's  Call  to  Repentance. 

51.  A  Penitent's  Prayer  for  himself  and  for  The  Church 

—  The  Great  Miserere. 


THE  PSALTER 


225 


52.  "The  Man  that  took  not  God  for  his  Strength." 

53.  The  Fool  and  his  Folly. 

54.  "God  is  my  Helper  "  —  Another  Cry  from  Gethsemane. 

55.  Litany  of  the  Oppressed. 

56.  "In  God  have  I  put  my  Trust." 

57.  "Under  the  Shadow  of  Thy  Wings"  —  An  Easter 

Song. 

58.  "There  is  a  God  that  Judgeth  the  Earth." 

59.  "Deliver  me  from  mine  Enemies,  O  God." 

60.  The  Church's  Cry  in  Days  of  Anxiety. 

61.  "When  my  Heart  is  in  Heaviness." 

62.  "Rock  of  Ages." 

63.  "Early  will  I  seek  Thee"  —  A  Morning  Hymn. 

64.  Wicked  Doers  and  their  Bitter  Words. 

65.  "Thou  Crownest  the  Year  with  Thy  Goodness"  — 

A  Harvest  Thanksgiving. 

66.  "How  Wonderful  art  Thou  in  Thy  Works." 

67.  "That  Thy  Saving  Health  may  be  Known  among 

All  Nations"  —  A  Missionary  Hymn. 

68.  The  Church's  Trumpet-Call  —  A  Processional  Whit- 

sun  Hymn. 

69.  "I  am  come  into  Deep  Waters"  —  A  Psalm  of  the 

Passion. 

70.  Prayer  of  the  Poor  and  Needy. 

71.  "When  my  Strength  faileth  me"  —  A  Prayer  for 

the  Aged. 

72.  "All  Nations  shall  do  Him  Service"  —  A  Missionary 

Hymn. 

Book  III 

73.  The  End  of  Prosperous  Wickedness. 

74.  Elegy  on  the  Ruined  Temple. 

75.  God  the  Righteous  Judge. 

76.  The  Church's  Song  of  Victory. 

77.  Strength  in  Remembering  our  Past. 

78.  The  Story  of  God's  Marvels  for  His  Church. 

79.  Lament  over  the  Ruined  City  of  God. 

80.  Prayer  for  the  Ruined  Vineyard. 

81.  Glad  Hymn  for  a  Great  Feast. 


226  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


82.  God's  Judgment  on  the  Judges. 

83.  Judgment  on  the  Church's  Enemies. 

84.  A  Longing  for  God's  Courts  and  Altar. 

85.  "God  so  Loved  the  World" — The  Mystery  of  the 

Lowly  Incarnation  —  A  Christmas  Hymn. 

86.  Prayer  of  a  Persecuted  Believer. 

87.  "Jerusalem  which  is  above,  the  Mother  of  us  all." 

88.  "My  Soul  is  full  of  Trouble"  —  ^  Prayer  from  the 

Cross. 

89.  "I  will  make  Him  My  Firstborn"  —  A  Christmas 

Hymn. 

Book  IV 

90.  "Teach  us  to  number  our  Days." 

91.  "Underneath  are  the  Everlasting  Arms." 

92.  "It  is  a  Good  Thing  to  give  Thanks"  —  A  Morning 

and  Evening  Hymn. 

93.  "The  Lord  God  Omnipotent  Reigneth." 

94.  "How  Long,  O  Lord?" —  The  Cry  of  a  Distracted 

Believer. 

95.  The  Church's  Call  to  Worship  —  Venite. 

96.  A  Call  to  the  Church  and  the  Nations  —  A  Mis- 

sionary Hymn. 

97.  Christ  is  King,  let  the  Earth  Rejoice. 

98.  A  New  Song  of  Christ's  Marvelous  Works. 

99.  The  Name  that  is  above  Every  Name. 

100.  A  Call  to  all  the  Nations. 

101.  The  City  of  God  for  the  Godly. 

102.  Medicine  for  an  Aching  Heart  —  A  Prayer  for  the 

Sorrowful. 

103.  Praise  for  God's  Gifts  to  the  Soul. 

104.  Praise  for  God's  Greatness  in  Nature. 

105.  God's  Marvelous  Works  for  His  People  —  A  National 

Anthem. 

106.  God's  Mercy  and  Pardon  for   His   People  —  A 

National  Warning. 

Book  V 

107.  "The  Wonders  that  He  doeth  for  the  Children  of 

Men." 


THE  PSALTER 


227 


108.  "Through  God  we  shall  do  Great  Acts"  —  A  Song 

for  Ascension  Day. 

109.  "Though  they  curse  yet  bless  Thou." 

no.  The  Priest-King,  the  Sufferer,  and  the  Victor  —  A 

Christmas  Song. 
in.  "The  Works  of  the  Lord  are  Great." 

112.  The  Blessedness  of  the  Godly. 

{The  Hallel  Psalms,  113-118.  "The  Hymn"  of 
S.  Matt,  xxvi,  30). 

113.  "Who  is  Like  unto  the  Lord?" 

114.  Triumph  Song  of  the  Exodus  —  An  Easter  Hymn. 

115.  "Not  unto  us,  O  Lord,  but  unto  Thy  Name  give  the 

Praise"  —  Non  nobis,  Domine. 

116.  "Thou  hast  Delivered  my  Soul  from  Death"  —  A 

Communion  Hymn. 

117.  "  Praise  Him  all  ye  Nations." 

118.  "I  shall  not  Die  but  Live"  —  An  Easter  Song  from 

the  Cross. 

1 19.  The  Glories  and  Beauties  of  God's  Law  —  A  Medi- 

tation. 

{The  Pilgrims'  Songs  of  Ascent,  or  Gradual  Psalms, 
120-134) 

120.  "When  I  was  in  Trouble —  The  Cry  of  a  Returning 

Exile. 

121.  "He  that  Keepeth  thee  will  not  Sleep." 

122.  "For  the  Peace  of  Jerusalem." 

123.  Prayer  of  the  Despised  Exile. 

124.  "If  the  Lord  Himself  had  not  been  on  our  Side"  — 

A  National  Thanksgiving. 

125.  "As    the    Hills    stand    about   Jerusalem"  —  The 

Exiles'  Confidence. 

126.  They  that  Sow  in  Tears  shall  Reap  in  Joy"  —  Song 

of  the  Freedmen. 

127.  "Except  the  Lord  Build  the  House"  —  The  Builder  s 

Psalm. 

128.  A  Song  of  Wife  and  Home. 

129.  A  Litany  for  the  Afflicted  Church. 

130.  A  Cry  out  of  the  Deep  —  De  Profundis. 

131.  "As  a  Little  Child." 


228   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


132.  "An  Habitation  for  the  Mighty  God  of  Jacob"  — 

A  Christmas  and  Consecration  Hymn. 

133.  The  Joy  of  Brotherly  Love. 

134.  The  People's  Prayer  for  their  Priests. 

135.  A  Festal  Hymn  of  Praise. 

136.  "His  Mercy  Endureth  for  Ever"  —  The  Great  Hallel 

of  Thanksgiving. 

137.  "By  the  Waters  of  Babylon"  —  Sad  Memories  of  an 

Exile. 

138.  "Though  I  walk  in  the  Midst  of  Trouble"  —  A  Song 

of  Thanksgiving. 

139.  "Thou  hast  Searched  me  out  and  Known  me"  — 

A  Hymn  of  Godfs  Omniscience. 

140.  The  Cry  of  a  Tempted  Soul. 

141.  An  Evening  Prayer  for  Protection. 

142.  "When  my  Spirit  was  in  Heaviness." 

143.  "I  Flee  unto  Thee  to  Hide  me." 

144.  "My  Defender  in  Whom  I  Trust." 

145.  "There  is  no  End  of  His  Greatness." 

146.  "  Put  not  your  Trust  in  Princes." 

147.  "A  Joyful  and  Pleasant  Thing  it  is  to  be  Thankful." 

—  A  Benedicite. 

148.  "All  ye  Works  of  the  Lord,  Bless  ye  the  Lord"  — 

—  A  Benedicite. 

149.  "Let  Israel  Rejoice  in  Him  that  Made  Him." 

150.  "Let  Every  Thing  that  hath  Breath  Praise  the  Lord." 

The  Jews  divided  the  Psalms  into  five  Books;  concerning 
which  it  has  been  said: — "God  presented  Israel  with  the 
Law,  a  Pentateuch,  and  grateful  Israel  responded  with  a 
Psalter,  a  Pentateuch  of  Praise."  The  author  is  fully  con- 
scious of  the  imperfect  character  of  this  effort  to  give  titles 
to  the  Psalms.  Though  he  has  found  very  little  in  the  work 
of  others  to  assist  him  in  his  attempt,  he  would  express  his 
indebtedness  particularly  for  a  number  of  suggestions  to 
Practical  Reflections  on  the  Psalms,  by  "an  old  and  honoured," 


THE  PSALTER 


229 


but  unnamed,  friend  of  Canon  Liddon,  and  to  Mr.  Spurgeon's 
Treasury  of  David. 

It  has  of  course  been  impossible  to  point  out  in  the  pre- 
ceding list  the  many  "things  written  in  the  Psalms  concern- 
ing" Christ,  as  He  Himself  taught  His  disciples  (S.  Luke 
xxiv,  44,  45).  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  after  this  teaching 
we  find  nearly  two  hundred  references  to  the  Psalms  by 
apostolic  writers  in  the  New  Testament.  To  minds  thus 
"  opened  to  understand  the  Scriptures,"  the  Psalter  was 
overflowing  with  Christ  and  His  Gospel,  His  love,  His  life, 
His  death  and  resurrection,  His  sacraments,  His  promises. 
An  early  tradition  says  that  as  He  hung  on  the  Cross  He 
not  only  uttered  the  first  words  of  the  22nd  Psalm,  "My 
God,  My  God,  etc.,"  but  He  went  on  through  that  great 
"programme  of  the  crucifixion"  to  the  23rd,  with  its  cry, 
"Though  I  walk  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death;" 
to  the  24th,  with  its  glorious  promise  of  heaven;  and  so 
through  all  that  follow  until  He  reached  the  31st,  with  the 
prayer,  "Into  Thy  hands  I  commend  My  Spirit,"  and  so 
ended.  Thus,  as  has  been  well  said,  "The  golden  key  of  the 
Psalter  lies  in  a  pierced  hand."1  Thus  also,  we  see  the 
wisdom  of  the  Church  from  the  beginning  in  her  constant 
use  of  the  Psalms,  weaving  them  into  her  Christian  Year, 
that  they  may  become  "familiar  in  our  mouths  as  house- 
hold words,"  and  help  us  to  feel  and  think  aright,  in  peni- 
tence, and  praise,  and  thanksgiving,  and  joyful  hope,  in 
presence  of  the  glorious  mystery  of  Incarnate  Love. 


1  Archbp.  Alexander,  p.  22. 


23o   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


Appendix  II  to  Chapter  XXII 

MUSIC  IN  THE  CHURCH 

It  is  needless  to  remark  the  great  place  given  by  Holy 
Scripture  to  music,  both  instrumental  and  vocal,  in  the 
worship  of  God.  Dupanloup,  Bishop  of  Orleans,  writes: — ■ 
"  Singing  is  one  of  the  noblest  and  strongest  ways  of  express- 
ing the  feelings  of  the  soul.  As  S.  Augustine  again  has  said, 
' 'Cantat  amor*  Singing  is  love;  thus  everything  sings  in 
nature,  everything  sings  in  heaven.  It  is  the  enthusiasm  of 
the  heart.  It  moves  souls.  Whence  comes  it?  What  is 
the  secret  of  this  mysterious  relation  between  musical  things, 
cadence,  rhythm,  harmony,  melody,  and  the  deepest  powers 
of  our  being?  I  know  not.  But  it  is  a  fact;  this  is  why  every- 
thing in  the  soul  sings;  why  all  that  is  noble,  ardent,  gener- 
ous, passionate,  breaks  out  into  song."  1  Concerning  the 
faculty  and  the  enjoyment  of  music  in  the  economy  of  human 
life,  even  such  a  man  as  the  late  Mr.  Darwin  lets  fall  the  word 
which  theologians  are  so  often  blamed  for  employing.  "They 
are,"  he  says,  "among  the  most  mysterious  faculties  with 
which  man  is  endowed.  They  awaken  dormant  sentiments. 
They  tell  us  of  things  which  we  have  not  seen  and  [he  adds 
perhaps  mistakenly]  shall  not  see."  2 

Socrates,  the  Church  Historian,  says  that  Ignatius,  the 
martyr  Bishop  of  Antioch  (circa  a.d.  50-115),  introduced 
the  custom  of  antiphonal  singing  of  the  Psalms,  that  is,  by 
opposite  sides  of  the  choir  or  congregation  in  turn  (vicissim), 
and  the  younger  Pliny,  governor  of  Bythinia,  in  his  letter  to 
the  Emperor  Trajan  (a.d.  112)  makes  a  similar  statement. 

1  The  Ministry  of  Catechizing,  English  Trans,  pp.  180,  181. 
*  Descent  of  Man,  II,  p.  335. 


THE  PSALTER 


231 


They  do  not  speak,  however,  of  the  character  of  the  music. 
The  earliest  form  of  music  in  the  Church  of  which  we  have 
record  is  that  called  Plain  Song,  in  Latin,  Cantus  Planus, 
that  is,  a  chant  unmeasured  by  bars  as  in  modern  music.  It 
is  marked  by  great  simplicity  and  dignity,  and  was  always 
sung  in  unison.  Its  most  distinctive  feature  is  its  attempt 
to  give  musical  expression  to  the  reading  of  a  prose  poem, 
in  the  most  natural  manner,  and  with  the  utmost  freedom. 
Harmony  or  homophony  (as  distinguished  from  polyphony 
in  fugue  and  canon,  with  their  many  voices  each  singing 
its  own  melody)  was  a  much  later  development.  It  is 
profoundly  suggestive  that,  though  unadapted  to  Plain 
Song,  this  perfection  of  musical  art,  as  the  symbol  of  that 
"peace  on  earth"  proclaimed  by  the  angelic  choir  over 
the  fields  of  Bethlehem,  was  the  peculiar  work  of  the 
Church  of  Christ.1 

The  origin  of  Plain  Song  is  probably  traceable  in  a  measure 
to  the  Jewish  Christians,  who  would  naturally  sing  the  simple 
tones  or  chants  which  were  endeared  to  them  by  the  constant 
use  of  the  great  Temple  choirs.  But  doubtless  it  owes  its 
development  in  a  great  degree,  when  the  Church  spread 
among  the  Gentiles,  to  the  traditional  music  of  the  Greeks 
and  Romans.  S.  Ambrose,  Bishop  of  Milan  (a.d.  340-397), 
introduced  the  custom  into  the  Church  in  Italy,  and  did 
much  to  improve  the  character  of  these  ancient  melodies.2 
During  the  next  two  centuries,  however,  Church  music 
degenerated  greatly  by  attempting  too  much  elaboration, 
and  it  was  given  to  that  Gregory  who  showed  his  missionary 
fervor  in  sending  the  monk  Augustine  to  England  in  596, 

1  It  is  claimed  by  musical  writers  that  "England  possesses  the  oldest 
specimen  of  polyphonic  writing,  the  famous  canon,  'Sumer  is  icomen  in,' 
now  assigned  to  the  year  1226."    See  New  Inter.  Ency.  XVI,  p.  482. 

'  For  the  different  methods  of  reciting  or  singing  the  Psalms  see  p.  219. 


232   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


to  bring  about,  by  his  love  and  skill  in  music,  a  reform  in 
the  direction  of  greater  simplicity  and  reverence.  As  formerly 
the  chants  were  called  Ambrosian,  from  the  friend  of  Monica 
and  her  son  S.  Augustine  of  Hippo,  so  henceforth  it  is  from 
Gregory  the  Great  that  we  derive  the  name  Gregorian  now 
usually  given  to  the  tones  of  Plain  Song. 

In  the  sixteenth  century  Church  music  had  again  become 
so  elaborated  and  secularized  that  one  of  the  first  acts  of 
the  Roman  Council  of  Trent  (i 545-1 563)  was  an  effort  for 
its  reformation.  In  fact  Pope  Pius  IV  in  1564  went  so  far 
as  to  appoint  a  commission  to  enquire  whether  music  in 
parts,  as  distinguished  from  the  unison  of  Plain  Song,  should 
be  tolerated  in  the  Church  at  all.  It  was  chiefly  owing  to 
the  work  of  the  great  Church  musician,  Giovanni  Palestrina, 
by  his  skilful  adaptation  of  harmony  to  the  ancient  Church 
tones,  that  this  radical  measure  was  rejected.  It  is  said  that 
such  was  the  Pope's  enthusiasm  on  hearing  one  of  his  masses 
that  he  exclaimed,  "These  are  the  harmonies  of  the  New 
Song  which  the  Apostle  John  heard  coming  out  of  the  new 
Jerusalem,  and  which  an  earthly  John  [Giovanni]  makes 
us  hear  in  the  earthly  Jerusalem. 93 

It  was  not  until  the  sixteenth  century  that  the  peculiarly 
Anglican  form  of  the  Church  chant  arose.  By  this  time  the 
major  and  minor  keys  had  taken  the  place  of  the  many 
ancient  "modes,"  and  this  change  greatly  advanced  the 
growth  of  harmonized  music.1    Though  in  its  later  forms, 

1  It  seems  strange  to  modern  musical  ears  that  the  major  and  minor 
keys,  as  we  have  them  now  on  the  organ  and  piano,  were  practically  un- 
known to  the  ancient  world,  though  the  key  of  C  natural  was  long  known 
under  the  name  of  Hypolydian.  The  four  keys  or  "Authentic  Modes," 
as  they  were  called,  Dorian,  Phrygian,  Lydian,  and  Mixo-Lydian,  but 
named  by  S.  Ambrose,  1st,  2nd,  3rd,  and  4th,  consisted  of  the  white  notes 
only,  as  we  have  them  on  the  piano  or  organ  today,  beginning  D,  £,  F, 
and  G.    To  these  were  added  by  Gregory  four  "Plagal  Modes,"  beginning 


THE  PSALTER 


233 


varying  widely  in  lightness,  melody,  and  variety  from  the 
earlier  music,  the  Anglican  chant  is  historically  and  musically 
a  development  from  the  ancient  modes.  The  famous  Book 
of  Common  Praier  Noted  of  John  Marbeck  (or  Merbecke, 
1 523-1 585),  chorister  and  organist  of  S.  George's  Chapel, 
Windsor,  "contains  the  first  adaptation  of  the  ancient 
music  of  the  Latin  ritual,  according  to  its  then  well  known 
rules,  mutatis  mutandis,  to  the  new  English  translations  of 
the  Missal  and  Breviary."  Tallis,  organist  of  Waltham 
Abbey,  the  contemporary  of  Marbeck,  pursued  the  same 
method,  and  has  been  called  "the  Father  of  English  Cathe- 
dral music."  In  fact  the  Gregorian  chants  for  the  Psalms 
and  Canticles  were  in  use,  not  only  immediately  after  the 
Reformation,  but  far  into  the  seventeenth  century.  And 
although  the  Great  Rebellion  (1545-1660)  silenced  the 
ancient  service  with  its  traditional  chant,  yet  the  well  known 
work  of  Clifford,  Minor  Canon  of  S.  Paul's,  gives  as  the 
"common  tunes"  for  chanting  the  English  Psalter,  etc., 
correct  versions  of  each  of  the  eight  Gregorian  tones. 

In  this  connection  some  notice  must  be  taken  of  metrical 
hymns.  In  the  absence  of  good  English  translations  of  the 
old  Latin  Office  hymns,  metrical  versions  of  the  Psalms  came 
into  use,  especially  among  the  Puritan  party.  In  1549 
Sternhold  published  a  version  of  the  first  fifty-one  Psalms, 
and  in  1562  the  whole  book  was  versified  by  T.  Sternhold, 
J.  Hopkins,  and  others.  These  were  afterwards  supplanted 
by  a  new  version  made  by  N.  Brady,  D.D.,  and  N.  Tate. 

on  the  fourth  note  below  the  first  or  "tonic"  of  the  Authentic  Scale,  and 
distinguished  by  prefixing  the  word  "Hypo"  (under)  to  the  correspond- 
ing names  of  the  Authentic,  as  Hypodorian,  etc.  See  an  excellent  article 
by  Dr.  Dykes  in  Blunt,  Ann.  Pr.  Bk.,  pp.  li-lxv;  Oxford  His.  of  Music; 
Helmore,  Plain  Song;  and  Grove,  Die.  of  Music  and  Musicians,  under 
Chant,  Marbeck,  Tallis,  etc. 


234   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


They  were  sometimes  bound  up  with  the  Prayer  Book,  but 
were  not  obligatory  in  England.  Strange  to  say,  however, 
the  American  Church  up  to  1872  required  that  when  one  of 
the  small  collection  of  hymns  bound  with  the  Prayer  Book 
was  used,  a  Psalm  or  portion  in  metre  should  also  be  sung. 
These  metrical  Psalms  with  few  exceptions  were  entirely 
lacking  in  literary  quality. 

Christian  metrical  hymns,  as  distinct  from  the  Hebrew 
Psalms,  came  into  use  from  the  very  beginning,  as  is  evident 
from  such  passages  as  Eph.  v,  19  and  Col.  iii,  16.  S.  Paul  in 
fact  seems  to  be  quoting  from  an  early  Easter  hymn  in  the 
former  of  these  passages  (verse  14)  as  the  metrical  character 
of  the  quotation  is  evident  in  the  Greek.  Compare  also  1 
Tim.  iii,  16;  2  Tim.  ii,  11;  Rev.  iv,  n;  v,  9-14;  xi,  15-19; 
xv,  3,  4.  Hilary  of  Poictiers  (300-366),  Gregory  Nazi- 
anzen  (329-389),  and  Ambrose  of  Milan  (340-397)  are 
among  the  earliest  of  those  whose  hymns  are  found  in  our 
present  collections.  The  Middle  Ages  both  east  and  west 
were  rich  in  such  hymns,  of  which  nearly  one  hundred  and 
fifty  in  Latin  formed  the  Office  hymns  of  the  Church  of 
England.  Bishop  Ken,  Dr.  Watts,  the  two  Wesleys,  Bishop 
Heber,  Montgomery,  and  others,  from  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury to  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth,  wrote  many  origi- 
nal hymns  in  English  which  have  stood  the  test  of  time, 
but  it  was  not  until  after  the  Oxford  Revival,  which  began 
in  1833,  that  the  ancient  Office  hymns  were  made  available 
to  any  extent  by  translation  for  English  Christians.  This 
was  also  the  time  when  original  hymns  of  the  deepest  spirit- 
ual character  and  most  scholarly  finish  were  produced  in 
large  numbers,  and  composers  of  the  highest  musical  ability 
matched  them  with  noble  melodies. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 
The  Lessons  and  Canticles 

"  Truth  through  the  Sacred  V olume  hidden  lies, 
And  spreads  from  end  to  end  her  secret  wing. 
Through  ritual,  type,  and  storied  mysteries."  —  I.  Williams. 

WE  have  already  seen  that  Lessons  or  Lections  from 
Holy  Scripture  were  first  introduced  into  the  office 
for  Holy  Communion  (p.  155).  Their  use  in  the  Daily  Prayers 
or  Choir  Offices  was  originally  confined  chiefly  to  the  Psalter, 
of  which  very  large  portions  were  employed.  Lessons  from 
other  parts  of  Holy  Scripture  were  indeed  not  wholly  lacking 
but  they  were  small  in  quantity,  and  were  not  selected  on 
any  regular  plan.  Our  revised  morning  service,  as  already 
stated  (p.  204),  was  formed  on  the  basis  of  Matins,  Lauds, 
and  Prime,  while  the  evening  service  was  an  adaptation  of 
Vespers  and  Compline.  Sometimes,  as  on  Advent  Sunday, 
there  were  three  Old  Testament  Lessons  in  the  unreformed 
Matins  service,  but  they  each  consisted  of  only  two  verses 
from  Isaiah.1  A  Lesson  from  the  New  Testament,  called 
the  "Little  Chapter,"  generally  taken  on  important  days 
from  the  Epistle,  formed  part  of  the  service  of  Lauds.  We 
have  here  therefore  the  norm  on  which  the  revisers  based 
their  adoption  of  a  First  and  Second  Lesson,  while  greatly 
enlarging  the  amount.  They  adopted  also  a  systematic 
method  for  the  purpose,  namely,  the  reading  of  the  Old 
Testament  through  once,  and  the  New  Testament  twice,  in 
each  year. 

Though  Proper  Lessons  were  appointed  in  the  First 
Book  (1549)  for  a  few  Holy  Days,  it  was  not  until  the  revision 
1  Is.  i,  1-6. 


236   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP     THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


of  1559  that  a  table  of  Old  Testament  Lessons  for  Sundays 
and  Holy  Days,  with  a  few  from  the  New  Testament,  was 
provided;  and  this  Lectionary,  with  a  few  changes  in  1662, 
remained  in  force  in  the  English  Church  until  1871.  At  this 
latest  revision  of  the  English  Book  the  principle  was  recog- 
nized that,  while  "all  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of 
God,  and  is  profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  etc.,1"  never- 
theless all  portions  are  not  of  equal  value  in  this  respect. 
Much  of  the  Old  Testament  especially  (e.g.  Leviticus,  the 
Song  of  Songs,  and  obscure  chapters  in  the  Prophets)  is  not 
adapted  to  the  edification  of  modern  congregations,  though 
valuable  in  other  ways,  and  there  is  probably  still  room  for 
improvement  in  this  direction.  The  principle  of  selection 
which  we  find  in  the  Eucharistic  Lections  might  well  be 
applied  to  a  large  extent  to  the  whole  Lectionary. 

In  1789  the  American  Church  made  many  improvements 
in  the  Lectionary  of  1662,  which  it  had  continued  to  use 
until  then.  Many  chapters  were  divided,  and  less  edifying 
passages  omitted.  All  Sundays  were  given  four  Proper 
Lessons,  different  from  those  in  the  Calendar  for  the  Daily 
Prayers.  All  Holy  Days  received  Proper  First  Lessons,  and 
some  Holy  Days  Proper  Second  Lessons.  A  further  revision 
of  the  American  Lectionary  was  completed  in  1883  when  large 
omissions  were  made  from  the  Old  Testament,  and  nineteen 
days  in  November  were  supplied  with  Lessons  from  some  of 
the  most  beautiful  chapters  of  the  Apocrypha.  A  table  of 
optional  Lessons  for  Lent  was  also  provided.  It  is  to  be 
noted,  moreover,  that  in  the  English  and  American  Leo 
tionaries  alike  the  Old  Testament  is  begun  in  January,  and 
the  book  of  Isaiah  is  read  in  Advent.2 

1  2  Tim.  iii,  16. 

1  The  further  revision  of  both  the  English  and  American  Lectionuries 
is  still  under  consideration  by  official  bodies. 


LESSONS  AND  CANTICLES 


The  Te  Deum,  which  derives  its  name  from  the  first  words 
in  Latin  ("Thee,  O  God"),  is  really  a  poetical  and  precatory 
form  of  the  Creed;  "the  Creed  touched  into  music."  1  It  is 
called  in  the  Portuary,  "The  Canticle  of  Ambrose  and 
Augustine,"  in  allusion  to  the  tradition  that  it  was  composed 
by  these  two  Saints,  and  first  used  at  the  baptism  of  the  latter 
by  S.  Ambrose  at  Milan  on  April  25,  387.  Parts  of  it  seem  to 
have  been  known  to  S.  Cyprian,  the  Bishop  of  Carthage,  in 
252.  But  "recent  researches  have  discovered  the  real  author 
in  Niceta,  missionary  Bishop  of  Remesiana  in  Dacia  at  the 
end  of  the  fourth  century." 2  The  rubric  in  the  Sarum 
Portuary  appointed  it  at  Matins  on  Sundays  and  Festivals, 
except  in  Advent,  and  from  Septuagesima  to  Easter.  In  the 
Book  of  1549  it  was  ordered  to  be  used  every  day  except  in 
Lent,  when  the  Benedicite  was  to  take  its  place. 

The  Hymn  naturally  divides  itself  into  four  parts.  (1) 
An  act  of  praise  to  God  the  Father  (1-9).  (2)  A  confession 
of  faith  in  the  three  Persons  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  beginning, 
"The  Holy  Church,"  etc.  (10-13).  (3)  An  act  of  adora- 
tion to  our  Lord  for  His  Incarnation  and  Redemption  (14- 
19).  (4)  A  prayer  addressed  to  Christ,  and  based  on  His 
work  of  love  for  men  (20-end).  The  change  in  the  last 
verse  from  the  plural  "we"  to  the  singular  "I"  seems  in- 
tended to  give  a  personal  touch  to  the  hymn,  bringing  its 
appeal  home  as  in  the  Creed  ("I  believe")  to  each  and  every 
worshipper.  Or  it  may  be  meant  to  represent  the  pleading 
voice  of  the  Church  as  the  Bride  of  Christ,  addressed  to  her 
Beloved.3 


1  Archbp.  Alexander  on  The  Psalms,  Lec.  VI. 
8  P.  and  F.,  p.  380. 

8  As  the  Creed  of  this  hymn  of  praise  properly  ends  with  the  words 
"glory  everlasting,"  permission  to  omit  all  that  follows  on  festivals,  in- 
cluding all  Sundays,  as  suggested  in  A  Prayer  Book  Revised,  with  Pref- 


238   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

The  Benedicite  gets  its  name  from  the  Latin  of  its  re- 
frain, "Bless  ye."  It  is  the  only  canticle  taken  from  the 
Apocrypha,  where  it  is  called  the  "Song  of  the  Three  Chil- 
dren," that  is,  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abednego,  the 
Babylonian  names  of  the  three  young  Jews,  Hananiah,  Mis- 
hael,  and  Azariah,  who  were  thrown  into  the  fiery  furnace  for 
their  refusal  to  worship  the  golden  image  of  Nebuchadnezzar.1 
The  Benedicite  is  part  of  the  Greek  addition  to  the  third  chap- 
ter of  Daniel,  as  given  in  the  Apocrypha,  after  the  book  of 
Baruch.  It  is  a  paraphrase  of  Psalm  cxlviii,  and  was  used  as 
a  hymn  in  the  later  Jewish  Church.  It  was  commonly  sung 
in  the  Christian  Church  in  the  fourth  century.  In  the 
ancient  English  use  it  was  appointed  for  Lauds  on  Sundays.2 

Though  so  simple  in  construction  the  Hymn  is  one  of  the 
most  inspiring  in  all  Jewish  poetry.  In  the  wide  sweep  of  its 
outlook  even  the  Te  Deum  does  not  excel  it,  including  as  it 
does  "all  the  works  of  the  Lord,"  the  holy  Angels,  the 
Heavens,  Nature  animate  and  inanimate,  the  Children  of 
Men,  the  Holy  Church  or  spiritual  Israel,  the  Priests  of  the 
Lord,  and  the  Spirits  and  Souls  of  the  Righteous  in  Paradise 
and  Earth.  In  days  when  mere  material  views  of  the  physi- 
cal universe  are  so  prevalent,  it  may  well  be  said  that  the 
Hymn  is  most  needful  in  lifting  the  soul  above  the  beauty 

ace  by  Bishop  Gore,  is  deserving  of  serious  consideration.  The  added 
verses,  which  form  no  part  of  the  original,  are  taken  from  Psalms  xxviii, 
10,  cxlv,  2,  and  lxxi,  I,  together  with  an  ancient  antiphon,  ''Vouchsafe 
etc.,"  and  two  Kyries,  "Lord  have  mercy."  Besides  the  inordinate  length 
on  ordinary  occasions  which  a  musical  rendering  involves,  every  Church 
musician  knows  the  extreme  difficulty  of  treating  this  great  Hymn  musically, 
ending  as  it  does  with  a  brief  Litany,  instead  of  a  burst  of  praise  as  it  be- 
gan. "To  be  numbered  with  Thy  saints"  should  be  "to  be  rewarded, 
etc.;"  numerari  of  the  Latin  text  being  an  ancient  miswriting  or  misprint 
for  munerari,  first  found  in  the  Breviary  of  1491  (P.  and  F.,  p.  381). 
1  Dan.  i,  6,  7;  iii,  8,  etc.  *  Freeman,  I,  288. 


LESSONS  AND  CANTICLES  239 

and  grandeur  of  the  world  to  Him  who  made  it  all,  in  the 
spirit  of  a  noble  passage  of  S.  Augustine  in  his  Confessions. 
"I  asked  the  earth,  and  it  answered  me,  'I  am  not  He*  ; 
and  whatsoever  are  in  it  confessed  the  same.  I  asked  the 
sea  and  the  deeps,  and  they  answered,  'We  are  not  thy  God, 
seek  above  us.'  I  asked  the  moving  air,  and  the  whole  air 
with  his  inhabitants  answered,  'Anaximenes  was  deceived, 
I  am  not  God.'  I  asked  the  heavens,  sun,  moon,  stars,  'Nor 
are  we  (say  they)  the  God  whom  thou  seekest.'  And  I  re- 
plied unto  all  the  things  which  encompass  the  door  of  my 
flesh;  '  Ye  have  told  me  of  my  God,  that  ye  are  not  He; 
tell  me  something  of  Him/  And  they  cried  out  with  a  loud 
voice,  'He  made  us!'"  1 

That  too  is  the  spirit  of  a  modern  Christian  poet  and 
philosopher  in  presence  of  "Sovran  Blanc"  :  — 

"Who  made  you  glorious  as  the  gates  of  Heaven 
Beneath  the  keen  full  moon?  WTho  bade  the  sun 
Clothe  you  with  rainbows?  Who,  with  living  flowers 
Of  loveliest  blue,  spread  garlands  at  your  feet? 
God!  let  the  torrents,  like  a  shout  of  nations, 
Answer!  and  let  the  ice-plains  echo,  God! 
God!  sing  ye  meadow-streams  with  gladsome  voice! 
Ye  pine-groves,  with  your  soft  and  soul-like  sounds! 
And  they  too  have  a  voice,  yon  piles  of  snow, 
And  in  their  perilous  fall  shall  thunder,  God!"2 

In  the  musical  rendering  of  the  canticle,  with  the  approval 
of  the  Bishop  of  the  Diocese,  two  or  more  of  the  invocations 
are  sometimes  united  into  a  single  strophe,  the  refrain, 
"Praise  Him,  etc.,"  being  only  repeated  at  the  end  of  each. 
And  as  the  hymn  in  its  origin  belongs  to  the  Jewish  Church, 
its  Christian  character  is  necessarily  marked,  as  in  the  Psalter, 


1  Bk.  X,  vi,  9. 

*  Coleridge,  Hymn  before  Sunrise  in  the  Vale  of  Chamouni. 


24o   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

by  the  addition  of  the  Gloria  Patri.1  In  the  first  reformed 
Prayer  Book  it  was  ordered  to  be  sung  during  Lent  instead 
of  the  Te  Deum,  and  though  no  direction  is  given  in  the 
present  Book,  it  is  a  good  custom  to  mark  the  penitential 
season  by  this  change.  It  is  to  be  remembered,  however, 
that  the  Hymn  is  equally  fitted  for  festal  occasions,  and  was 
so  used  in  the  early  Church.2 

The  Benedictus  (Latin  for  the  first  word  of  the  hymn, 
t<Blessed,,),  "The  Song  of  the  Prophet  Zacharias"  (S.  Luke 
i,  68-80),  is  the  most  appropriate  canticle  to  follow  the 
second  morning  Lesson.  As  in  the  Te  Deum,  which  follows 
the  Old  Testament  Lesson,  we  declare  that  the  promises 
made  to  the  fathers  were  fulfilled  in  the  Incarnation  and 
Atoning  Death  and  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Saviour, 
so,  in  the  inspired  words  of  the  father  of  John  the  Baptist, 
we  have,  as  the  First  Prayer  Book  describes  it,  a  "Thanks- 
giving for  the  performance  of  God's  promises"  in  the  gift  of 
His  Son. 

It  was  the  canticle  appointed  in  the  old  office  of  Lauds  at 
the  conclusion  of  the  "Little  Chapter,"  or  Lesson  from  the 
New  Testament.  In  the  American  Prayer  Book  permission 
is  given  to  use  only  the  first  four  verses,  "save  on  the  Sundays 
in  Advent,"  when  the  whole  canticle  must  be  "sung  or  said." 

The  Jubilate  (Latin  for  "O  be  joyful"),  the  100th  Psalm, 
is  the  substitute  for  the  Benedictus  when  that  hymn  is  read 
in  the  Lesson  for  the  day.    This  also  occupies  its  old  place 

1  The  employment  here  of  the  ordinary  form  of  the  Gloria  is  contrary 
to  ancient  usage,  and  is  a  mistake  both  rhythmically  and  musically.  It 
was  first  introduced  in  1549.  The  ancient  form  is  as  follows:  —  "Let 
us  bless  the  Father,  and  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost;  praise  Him  and 
magnify  Him  for  ever.  Blessed  art  Thou,  Lord,  in  the  firmament  of  heaven; 
to  be  praised,  and  glorified,  and  magnified  for  ever.  Amen."  See  Maskell, 
Mon.  Rit.y  II,  p.  20. 

8  See  Augustine,  Contra  Don.  ad  Petit.,  II,  xcii,  211. 


LESSONS  AND  CANTICLES  241 


in  the  unreformed  Office,  being  one  of  the  appointed  Psalms 
for  Lauds. 

Before  speaking  of  the  Evening  Canticles  it  is  well  to  call 
attention  to  the  fact  that  the  word  Evensong,  the  shortened 
name  for  Evening  Prayer,  is  peculiar  to  our  reformed  Prayer 
Book.  It  is  first  used  in  the  Book  of  1549  instead  of  the  word 
Vespers  of  the  Portuase  or  Breviary,  and,  together  with 
Mattins  (or  Matins),  it  still  retains  its  place  in  all  books  of 
the  Anglican  Communion  except  the  American,  from  which 
it  was  unfortunately  dropped  in  1789.  Though  it  had  no 
place  in  the  unreformed  service  books,  it  was  evidently  the 
popular  name  for  Vespers  long  before  the  Revision,  as  evi- 
denced by  the  familiar  proverb:  — 

"Be  the  day  short  or  never  so  long, 
At  length  it  ringeth  to  evensong." 

The  Magnificat,  or  "Song  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,"  1 
which  closely  resembles  the  song  of  Hannah,  the  mother  of 
the  prophet  Samuel,2  has  been  used  at  Vespers  throughout 
the  whole  Western  Church  as  long  as  the  service  can  be 
traced.  Its  position,  following  the  Lesson  from  the  Old 
Testament  containing  God's  promises  of  redemption,  is  a 
most  fitting  one.  The  whole  Church  finds  in  this  glorious 
Hymn  of  the  Mother  of  our  Lord  the  very  language  which 
most  truly  expresses  her  adoration  and  thanksgiving  for  the 
mystery  of  the  Incarnation,  and  all  that  flows  from  it  of 
love  and  mercy  and  salvation.  The  Hymn  has  been  called 
the  "Marseillaise"  of  Christian  democracy,  in  its  confident 
prevision  that  He  hath  already  "put  down  the  mighty  from 
their  seat,  and  hath  exalted  the  humble  and  meek.  He  hath 
filled  the  hungry  with  good  things,  and  the  rich  He  hath 
sent  empty  away." 

1  S.  Luke  i,  46.  2  1  Sam.  ii,  I. 


242   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


Concerning  the  composition  of  this  great  Hymn  of  the 
Incarnation  it  is  to  be  observed  that  there  is  no  suggestion 
in  S.  Luke  that  it  was  improvised  at  the  moment  of  meeting 
Elizabeth.  It  was  evidently  the  ripe  fruit  of  prolonged  and 
profound  meditation  in  the  heart  of  one  who  was  "blessed 
above  women,"  as  already  bearing  within  her  the  sacred 
Body  of  the  Son  of  God,  gifted,  moreover,  with  spiritual  and 
prophetic  genius,  and  a  mind  saturated  with  the  poetry  of 
her  ancestor  David.  Its  framework  and  its  spirit  she  found 
in  the  beautiful  Hymn  of  Hannah,  composed  under  circum- 
stances similar,  though  infinitely  inferior  to  her  own. 

Concerning  the  time  of  the  composition  of  the  Magnifi- 
cat, as  well  as  of  the  Songs  of  Zacharias  and  Simeon,1 
it  is  noteworthy  how  accurately  this  is  in  accord  with  the 
"dayspring  from  on  high"  2  in  which  it  was  spoken.  If  in- 
conceivable earlier,  it  is  more  inconceivable  later.  "Such 
sunlit  mountain-tops  in  the  distance,"  writes  Archbishop 
Alexander,  "with  such  mists  over  the  paths  that  lead  to  them, 
such  a  firm  grasp  upon  salvation  and  redemption,  such  a 
clear  view  of  its  character  as  consisting  'in  the  remission  of 
sins,'  yet  such  silence  as  to  its  details,  can  only  belong  to 
the  thin  border-line  of  a  period,  which  was  neither  quite 
Jewish,  nor  quite  Christian.  A  little  less,  and  these  songs 
would  be  purely  Jewish;  a  little  more,  and  they  would  be 
purely  Christian."  3 

Concerning  the  place  of  the  Magnificat,  Dr.  Liddon  has 
said:  — 

"There  is  no  mistaking  the  prominence  assigned  in  the 
English  Prayer-Book,  as  in  many  older  Prayer-books  of  the 
Christian  Church,  to  the  Hymn  of  Mary.  It  is  the  centre 
and  heart  of  our  Evening  Service.   All  else  leads  up  to  it,  or 


1  S.  Luke  i,  68,  sq.;  ii,  29,  sq. 

8  Leading  Ideas  of  the  Gospel,  p.  107. 


«  Ibid,  i,  78. 


LESSONS  AND  CANTICLES 


expands  it,  or  radiates  from  it.  We  mount  upwards  to  it 
by  successive  steps;  by  confession  of  the  sins  which  dis- 
qualify the  soul  of  man  for  true  communion  with  God;  by 
the  great  prayer  which  makes  all  communion  with  God  easy 
and  natural;  by  Psalms  which  express  the  longings  of  the 
human  heart  for  some  nearer  contact  with  God,  or  which 
sadly  deplore  whatever  may  hinder  it,  or  which  joyfully 
anticipate  its  realization.  .  .  .  Thus  we  approach  the  Hymn 
which  proclaims  that  all  for  which  Psalmists  and  Prophets 
have  yearned  has  in  very  truth  and  deed  come  to  be.  Mary 
might  seem  evening  by  evening  to  stand  in  the  Church  of 
her  Divine  Son,  while  she  celebrates  an  event  compared 
with  which  all  else  in  human  history  is  insignificant  indeed. 
As  from  her  thankful  heart  the  incense  of  praise  ascends  to 
the  Eternal  Throne,  first  in  one  and  then  another  incense- 
wreath,  each  having  its  own  beauty  of  tint  and  form,  we 
reflect  that  the  hardest  questions  of  man's  mind  have  been 
answered,  and  that  the  deepest  yearnings  of  his  heart  have 
been  satisfied. "  1 

The  Cantate  Domino  ("O  sing  unto  the  Lord"),  Psalm 
xcviii,  was  appointed  as  an  alternative  Canticle  in  the  Book 
of  1552.  Its  appropriateness  for  this  purpose,  as  being  also 
a  song  of  thanksgiving  for  the  fulfilment  of  God's  promises 
in  the  Old  Testament,  is  manifest.  The  American  Prayer 
Book  has  still  another  alternative  Canticle,  the  Bonum  est 
("It  is  a  good  thing"),  consisting  of  the  first  four  verses  of 
Psalm  xcii. 

1  The  Magnificat,  pp.  3,  4.  For  some  unaccountable  reason  both  the 
Magnificat  and  the  Nunc  Dimittis  were  omitted  from  the  American  Prayer 
Book  in  1789.  In  a  body  of  men  who  adopted  in  substance  the  Eucharistic 
Prayer  of  Consecration  in  the  Book  of  1549,  this  could  scarcely  have  been 
from  sympathy  with  the  absurdly  inconsistent  objections  of  the  Puritans 
to  the  hymns  of  the  New  Testament  while  they  accepted  those  of  the  Old. 
See  Hooker,  Eccl.  Pol.,  V,  xl.  It  may  have  been  owing,  however,  to  an 
equally  absurd  notion  that  in  some  way  the  great  Hymn  of  the  Blessed  Virgin 
was  Romish!    Happily  both  hymns  were  restored  in  the  revision  of  1892. 


244   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP     THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


The  Nunc  Dimittis  ("Now  lettest  Thou  depart "),  the 
"Song  of  Simeon,"  1  which  follows  the  New  Testament 
Lesson  for  Evensong,  has  been  used  as  an  evening  Canticle 
from  the  very  earliest  days  of  the  Christian  Church.  Equally 
with  the  Magnificat,  its  position  is  most  appropriate  after 
the  Second  Lesson  telling  of  the  actual  fulfilment  of  God's 
promises  in  that  salvation  which  is  "a  light  to  lighten  the 
Gentiles,  and  the  glory  of  His  people  Israel. "  In  addition 
to  this  fitness  to  the  Lesson,  this  "swan-song"  of  the  aged 
Simeon,  with  this  thought  of  "the  Light  that  never  was  on 
sea  or  land,"  and  of  the  joyful  close  of  his  own  earthly  life, 
is  most  appropriate  to  the  close  of  another  day,  suggesting 
as  it  does  the  "rest"  that  "remaineth  to  the  people  of  God,"  2 
of  which  every  night  gives  us  the  type  and  foreshadowing  in 
our  sleep. 

The  Deus  Misereatur  ("God  be  merciful"),  Psalm  lxvii, 
was  first  appointed  in  the  Book  of  1552  as  an  alternative 
Canticle  for  the  Nunc  Dimittis.  The  American  Prayer  Book 
has  still  another  alternative,  the  Benedic  Anima  Mea, 
("Praise  the  Lord,  O  my  Soul"),  consisting  of  the  first  four 
and  the  last  three  verses  of  Psalm  ciii. 


1  S.  Luke  ii,  29. 


2  Heb.  iv,  9. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 


The  Creed 


"  The  man  who  has  been  wandering  on  the  mountains  does  not  recall  and  de- 
scribe with  a  gladder  heart  the  first  glimpse  which  dawn  gave  him  of  the 
track  he  had  lost,  than  that  with  which  one  who  has  found  or  recovered  his 
faith  in  the  divine  government  of  the  world,  and  its  -perfect  manifestation 
in  Christ,  recites,  if  he  can,  the  words,  'God  of  God,  Light  of  Light,  very 
God  of  very  God.'  .  .  .  The  recitation  of  the  Creed  is  an  act  of  intellectual 
adoration  in  a  day  when  the  intellect  is  the  source  of  the  deepest  of  our 
troubles."  —  R.  H.  Hutton. 


E  speak  of  three  Creeds  or  Confessions  of  Faith, 


V  ▼  Apostles',  Nicene,  and  Athanasian,  but  the  Church 
has  in  reality  only  "one  Faith,"  as  she  has  only  "one  Lord."  1 
The  three  Creeds  are  but  concentric  circles  around  one  cen- 
tral point,  namely,  belief  in  Jesus  Christ,  either  as  confessed 
by  S.  Peter  when  he  said,  "Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of 
the  Living  God,"  2  or  by  the  Ethiopian  Treasurer,  "I  believe 
that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  of  God."  3  The  so-called  "three 
Creeds"  add  nothing  to  this  confession,  but  only  bring  out 
with  increasing  fulness,  when  heretical  attacks,  or  ignorance, 
have  made  it  necessary,  the  meaning  of  that  pregnant  germ 
of  "the  one  Faith."  4 

It  is  important  to  remember  that  the  Creed  (named 
from  credo,  its  first  word  in  the  Latin,  "I  believe")  is  not  a 
composition  of  human  wit  and  ingenuity,  the  result  of  deep 

1  Eph.  iv,  5.  2  S.  Matt,  xvi,  16.  *  Acts  viii,  37. 

*  The  Greek  name  is  sumbolon  or  symbol,  which  means  "a  proof  of 
authenticity,  or  a  mark  of  recognition,  as  a  seal-ring,  a  watch-word,  — 
the  proof  of  orthodoxy"  (Procter).  It  was  also  called  canon,  that  is,  the 
short  measure  or  rule,  by  which  to  test  all  other  truths. 


246   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


thought  and  research  concerning  the  nature  of  God,  and 
adopted  by  the  votes  of  a  committee  of  learned  men.  It  is 
first  a  "trust"  and  then  a  "tradition,"  that  is,  a  thing  which 
has  been  "delivered  once  for  all,"  1  and  then  handed  on  from 
age  to  age,  from  person  to  person,  from  teacher  to  scholar, 
from  parent  to  child.  It  is  concerning  this  trust  of  the  Catho- 
lic Faith  or  Creed  that  S.  Paul  writes  to  his  son  Timothy, 
"Hold  fast  the  form  of  sound  words  which  thou  hast  heard 
of  me,"  and  then  adds,  "That  good  thing  which  was  com- 
mitted unto  thee  [not  which  thou  hast  reasoned  out  for 
thyself]  keep  by  the  Holy  Ghost  which  dwelleth  in  us."  2 

Unlike  modern  theological  "platforms,"  and  "confessions," 
and  "articles,"  the  Church's  Creed  is  marked  also  by  great 
brevity,  conciseness,  and  simplicity.3  It  is  a  chart  such  as 
one  needs  on  the  wide  ocean  of  human  opinions,  a  map,  and 
not  a  brilliantly  colored  picture,  which  would  be  of  little 
value  to  a  voyager. 

As  the  salvation  of  Christ  was  meant  for  all,  "the  common 
salvation,"  as  S.  Jude  calls  it,  so  the  formulary  in  which  the 
Faith  was  summed  up  was  suited  to  all  capacities.  The 
Gospel  was  not  an  abstract  system  intended  for  philosophers 
or  even  theologians,  but  a  simple  statement  of  fundamental 
facts  of  which  the  Person  of  our  Lord,  and  belief  in  what  He 

1  i  Tim.  i,  ii;  vi,  20;  S.  Jude  3,  Rev.  Ver. 

1  2  Tim.  i,  13,  14. 

*  The  Augsburg  Confession  of  Faith,  the  standard  of  Lutheranism, 
composed  by  a  committee  of  divines  in  Augsburg  in  1530,  contains  28 
chapters.  The  Westminster  Confession,  the  standard  of  Presbyterianism, 
was  framed  by  the  Assembly  of  Scotch  and  English  Puritans  in  Westminster 
in  1645,  and  consists  of  33  chapters.  The  "Thirty  Nine  Articles"  of  the 
Church  of  England,  adopted  by  Convocation  in  1562,  are  not  for  the  most 
part  articles  of  Faith  but  of  "Religion,"  dealing  with  controversies  of  the 
day.  Though  usually  bound  up  with  the  Prayer  Book,  they  form  no 
necessary  part  of  it,  having  a  separate  title  page. 


THE  CREED 


247 


is  and  did  and  taught  and  commanded,  was  the  living  core 
and  centre.  And  so,  before  a  word  of  the  New  Testament 
was  written,  we  find  these  essentials  of  a  Christian's  belief 
gathered  by  the  Church  into  a  brief  "form  of  sound  words," 
or  "form  of  doctrine"  in  which  every  believer,  no  matter 
how  unlearned,  possessed  the  whole  Gospel,  the  whole  sub- 
stance of  "the  Faith"  which  he  was  bidden  to  "hold  fast," 
in  which  he  must  "stand  fast,"  and  for  which  he  must 
"earnestly  contend."  1 

Holding  fast  this  simple  Creed  everything  else  becomes 
plain.  Difficulties  about  Holy  Scripture,  and  theories  of  in- 
spiration, disappear.  Believing  in  a  Person,  as  the  first 
Apostles  learnt  to  do,  and  not  merely  in  a  system  of  religious 
opinions,  the  Christian  necessarily  believes  in  all  He  teaches 
concerning  His  Father,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  who  "proceedeth 
from  the  Father."  2  Like  Mary  of  Bethany,  he  "sits  at 
Jesus'  feet,  and  hears  His  word."  3  And  so,  this  "good  con- 
fession," as  S.  Paul  seems  to  call  it,4  naturally  followed  the 
order  or  took  the  form  of  that  three-fold  "Name"  of  Father, 
Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  "into"  which  our  Lord  gave  com- 
mandment that  every  believer  in  Him  should  be  baptized.5 

Such  a  simple  Creed  as  this  was  plainly  necessary  before 
the  New  Testament  was  written.  Even  after  the  New  Testa- 
ment was  completed  (about  the  year  96),  it  still  remained  a 
necessity,  for  the  vast  majority  of  believers  could  not  possibly 
possess  a  copy  of  these  Scriptures,  or  read  them  if  they  had 
them,  until  the  invention  of  printing  and  cheap  paper  four- 
teen hundred  years  later.  It  is  a  necessity  even  today  if 
children,  and  those  multitudes  who  always  remain  children 
in  intelligence,  are  to  have  some  brief  compact  statement 


1  2  Tim,  i,  13;  Rom.  vi,  17;  xvi,  17;  1  Cor.  xvi,  13;  Jude  3. 

2  S.  John  x,  15;  xv,  26;  xvi,  28.  4  1  Tim.  vi,  13. 

'  S.  Luke  x,  39.  5  S.  Matt,  xxviii,  19. 


248   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP     THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


of  those  essential  truths  which  every  "Christian  ought  to 
know  and  believe  to  his  soul's  health."  1 

It  is  for  this  reason  also  that  the  Creed  has  been  called 
the  "Rule  of  Faith"  (Regula  Fidei),  for  the  proper  under- 
standing of  Holy  Scripture,  and  in  its  due  "proportion,"  2 
with  Christ  as  its  "Alpha  and  Omega,"  its  "beginning  and 
ending,"  3  thus  escaping  those  dangers  of  exaggeration  or 
distortion  to  which  all  heresies,  ancient  and  modern  alike, 
invariably  tend.  The  practical  wisdom  of  the  Church  from 
the  beginning,  as  well  as  her  motherly  care,4  is  seen  here  in 
providing  for  her  children  a  brief  "form  of  sound  words" 
easily  learnt,  understood,  and  remembered.  Unlike  the 
ever-lengthening  creeds  and  confessions  that  are  buried  one 
after  another  in  dusty  volumes,  the  Creed  of  the  Church 
has  lived  upon  the  lips,  and  moulded  the  lives  of  little  chil- 
dren in  the  weakness  of  youth,  and  men  in  the  strength  of 
manhood,  in  every  generation  from  the  first.  It  is  the  living 
voice  of  the  living  Church,  a  hymn  of  praise  like  the  Te  Deum, 
as  well  as  a  declaration  of  faith,  which  has  ever  resounded, 
and  will  keep  on  resounding  all  the  days,  not  only  on  earth, 
but,  we  may  well  believe,  even  in  Paradise.5 

Still  another  most  practical  and  useful  purpose  of  the 
Creed  is  thus  described  by  a  very  thoughtful  writer:  —  "A 
man  who  gazes  on  the  Alps  for  the  solitary  time  in  his  life 
feels  it  fortify  his  soul  to  know  that  they  will  continue  to 
stand  in  all  their  silent  grandeur,  when  he  can  no  longer  see 
them,  and  long  after  his  own  body  is  part  of  the  dust  of  the 
earth.  Precisely  of  the  same  kind  is  the  effect  of  the  recital 
of  their  Creed  on  those  who  believe  it.  It  arrays  before  their 
minds  in  all  their  grandeur  and  solemnity  the  great  facts  on 


1  The  Baptismal  Office. 

2  Analogia>  Rom.  xii,  6. 
a  Rev.  i,  8. 


4  "The  mother  of  us  all,"  Gal.  iv,  26. 
6  Compare  Rev.  v,  12;  xv,  3. 


THE  CREED 


249 


which  their  faith  is  based,  and  reminds  them  that  those 
facts  are  so,  whether  their  attention  be  drawn  to  them  or 
not,  —  are  so,  behind  the  clouds  of  dust  in  which  the  world's 
worries  envelop  them,  as  much  as  in  the  transparent  mo- 
ments of  devotion,  —  in  short,  that  their  faith  is  the  conse- 
quence of  the  existence  of  these  great  realities,  and  that  these 
are  in  no  degree  the  dream  of  their  faith."  1 

Two  striking  illustrations  of  the  power  of  the  Creed  to 
uphold  one's  faith  are  worth  recording  here.  One  is  that  of 
Lieutenant  De  Long  of  the  United  States  Navy,  the  brave 
Arctic  explorer  and  a  Churchman,  who  in  October  1881  stood 
amid  his  dying  or  dead  companions,  soon  to  sink  down  in 
death  absolutely  alone,  and  surrounded  with  a  seemingly 
endless  desolation  of  ice  and  snow.  It  was  then  that  he  and 
they  found  their  greatest  comfort  and  strength  (so  the  last 
entry  in  his  diary  tells  us)  in  standing  up  under  that  awful 
sky  and  reciting  the  simple  Creed  of  their  childhood.  The 
other  is  that  of  a  little  child,  a  true  story  told  by  the  late 
Primate  of  the  Church  of  Ireland:  —  "A  dying  boy  began  to 
feel  the  very  touch  of  death.  He  feared  the  great  change, 
the  dread  unknown,  'what  dreams  may  come'  in  the  seeming 
sleep.  Father  and  mother,  friend  and  nurse,  said  their  little 
word  —  hymn  and  text  and  prayer.  The  child  asked  to  be 
propped  upon  the  pillow  and  whispered,  'Let  me  say  my 
Creed/  He  said  it  from  'I  believe  in  God  the  Father  Al- 
mighty' down  to  'the  life  everlasting,'  and  then  smiled,  and 
breathed  out  these  words,  'Now  I  am  not  afraid  to  die.'"  2 

1  R.  H.  Hutton,  Aspects  of  Religious  and  Scientific  Thought,  pp.  5,  6. 

2  Primary  Convictions,  p.  21.  It  is  related  of  Mrs.  Tait,  the  gifted  wife 
of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  that,  after  being  obliged  to  listen  to 
the  loose  opinions  often  expressed  by  intellectual  guests  of  her  husband, 
she  would  retire  to  her  room  and  very  slowly  and  solemnly  recite  the 
Creed. 


CHAPTER  XXV 


The  Three  Creeds 

"//  seems  to  me  by  every  true  meaning  of  the  word,  by  every  true  thought  of 
the  idea,  a  'liberal  faith'  is  a  faith  that  believes  much,  and  not  a  faith 
that  believes  little.  The  more  a  man  believes,  the  more  he  sends  forth 
his  intelligence  into  the  mysteries  of  God,  the  more  he  understands  those 
things  which  God  chooses  to  reveal  to  His  creatures."  —  Phillips  Brooks. 

"  To  complain  of  the  Creed  as  an  interference  with  liberty  is  to  imitate  the  savage 
who  had  to  walk  across  London  at  night,  and  who  remarked  that  the  lamp 
posts  were  an  obstruction  to  traffic."  —  Liddon. 

THE  various  steps  by  which  the  simple  confession,  "I 
believe  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  of  God"  gradually 
developed  into  that  which  we  call  the  Apostles'  Creed 
cannot  of  course  be  accurately  traced.  The  legend  that  the 
Apostles,  before  they  separated  at  Jerusalem  to  enter  on  their 
world-wide  work,  compiled  the  Creed  which  is  called  by  their 
name,  each  of  the  twelve  contributing  a  clause,  cannot  be 
regarded  seriously.  Nevertheless,  there  is  here  a  certain 
element  of  truth,  namely,  that  it  was  not  composed  by  any 
process  of  discussion  or  human  reasoning,  as  modern  creeds 
and  confessions  are  made,  but  these  fundamental  truths 
were  " committed 99  or  "delivered"  to  believers  as  a  sacred 
"trust"  by  those  who  were  "witnesses"  to  Christ,  who  was 
Himself  the  chief  Creedmaker,  "the  Faithful  and  True 
Witness,"  as  He  is  called  in  the  book  of  Revelation.1  They 
were  the  great  facts  concerning  His  life,  and  those  things 
undiscoverable  by  human  wisdom  which  He  had  revealed 
to  them. 

1  Rev.  i,  5;  iii,  14;  and  compare  S.  Luke  xxiv,  48;  Acts  i,  8;  i'.,  32; 
iii,  IS;  v,  32;  x,  39,  41;  xiii,  31;  Rom.  vi,  17;  2  Tim.  i,  13,  14;  S.  Jude  3. 


THE  THREE  CREEDS 


Though  the  substance  of  these  early  Creeds  was  the  same 
in  all,  nevertheless,  in  the  "form  of  sound  words"  setting 
forth  these  essential  truths  (the  only  ones  required  for  the 
reception  of  Holy  Baptism),  a  diocese  or  province  often 
differed  from  its  neighbor  in  its  exact  mode  of  expressing 
them.  But  in  course  of  time  the  form  which  prevailed  in  the 
diocese  of  Aquileia,  in  the  north  of  Italy,  became  the  norm 
of  universal  adoption  in  the  Western  Church.1 

The  recitation  of  the  Apostles'  Creed  was  part  of  Prime, 
the  third  division  of  the  old  Morning  Office  (Matins,  Lauds, 
and  Prime),  out  of  which  the  reformed  Matin  service  was 
formed.  In  the  old  Evening  Offices  of  Vespers  and  Compline, 
from  which  our  Evensong  was  composed,  the  Apostles'  Creed 
formed  part  of  the  latter  Office.  As  the  united  confession  of 
our  faith  it  comes  most  fittingly  after  the  instruction  of 
Psalm  and  Lesson,  and  this  has  been  its  place  from  primi- 
tive days.  In  the  earliest  Greek  Offices,  as  in  the  English, 
both  old  and  new,  it  always  appears  in  this  position,  and  is 
followed  by  the  Lord's  Prayer.2 

1  The  Creed  of  Aquileia,  among  other  things  in  which  it  differed  from 
that  of  Rome,  had  the  clause  "He  descended  into  hell,"  which  was  lacking 
in  the  other  Creed.  The  American  Church  allows  the  words,  "He  went 
into  the  place  of  departed  spirits,"  to  be  substituted  for  the  article;  adding, 
"which  are  considered  as  words  of  the  same  meaning  in  the  Creed."  It  is 
certainly  very  unfortunate  that  the  English  language  employs  the  same 
word  to  describe  two  distinct  and  wholly  dissimilar  ideas,  Hades  and 
Gehenna. 

2  The  Lord's  Prayer  and  the  three-fold  Kyrie  ("Lord,  have  mercy 
etc.")  were  omitted  at  the  American  revision  in  1789,  and  have  not  been 
restored.  At  the  same  time  the  Nicene  Creed  was  made  an  alternate 
for  the  Apostles'  in  the  Daily  Prayers.  Its  use  in  the  Eucharistic  Office 
was  not  made  obligatory  until  1892,  and  only  on  Christmas-day,  Easter, 
Ascension,  Whitsunday,  and  Trinity.  The  prevailing  custom,  however, 
is  to  use  it  at  every  celebration.  In  the  Roman  Church  to  this  day  the 
Nicene  Creed  is  not  said  at  every  Eucharist.    It  was  introduced  into  the 


252   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

During  the  ages  of  persecution,  when  it  was  thought  neces- 
sary to  guard  these  summaries  of  Christian  belief  and  de- 
votion from  the  unbelieving,  the  Creed  and  Lord's  Prayer 
were  not  said  aloud  but  secretly  and  silently.  This 
seems  to  be  the  explanation  of  the  custom  which  con- 
tinued in  the  Western  Offices  long  after  the  reason  for 
it  had  disappeared.1 

The  history  of  the  Nicene  form  of  the  Creed  is  more 
easily  traced  than  that  of  the  other  two.  Its  original  was 
some  form  of  the  Apostles'  or  baptismal  Creed  familiar  to 
all  the  three  hundred  and  eighteen  Bishops  who  gathered 
from  every  quarter  of  the  Christian  world  at  the  city  of 
Nicaea  in  Asia  Minor  at  the  call  of  the  Emperor  Constantine 
in  A.D.  325.2  The  particular  Creed  which  formed  its  basis 
seems  to  have  been  that  of  the  Mother  Church  of  Jerusalem, 
and  of  the  neighboring  Diocese  of  Caesarea.  A  new  heresy 
had  been  broached  in  the  Church  affecting  its  very  founda- 
tion. Arius,  a  Priest  and  Rector  in  Alexandria,  a  popular 
preacher,  and  jealous  of  his  Bishop,  Alexander,  attempted 
to  foist  a  new  meaning  on  the  words  of  the  old  Creed.  While 

Office  of  the  Eastern  Church  in  471,  into  the  Gallican  Church  in  589, 
and  somewhat  later  into  the  English.  It  was  not  adopted  into  the  Roman 
Liturgy  until  1014,  and  then  only  "under  external  pressure,  in  order  to 
assimilate  the  use  of  Rome  with  that  of  France  and  Spain."  P.  and  F., 
pp.  388-9. 

1  Freeman,  Prin.  Div.  Ser.t  I,  97,  98. 

2  From  the  number  of  Bishops,  318,  represented  in  Greek  by  the  three 
letters,  T117,  tie,  the  assembly  was  known  as  the  Tee-ay  Council.  The 
Bishop  presiding  was  not  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  but  the  venerable  Hosius 
of  Cordova  in  Spain,  a  striking  illustration  of  the  different  way  in  which 
that  Church  was  regarded  in  the  fourth  century.  In  fact,  at  not  one  of 
the  six  General  Councils  did  the  Bishop  of  Rome  preside  either  in  person 
or  by  proxy.  The  British  Bishops  were  represented  at  Niczea  by  two 
Priests  of  that  Church.  All  the  proceedings,  moreover,  were  recorded  in 
Greek,  and  not  in  Latin. 


THE  THREE  CREEDS 


253 


still  calling  Christ  "the  Son  of  God,"  he  declared  that  there 
was  a  time  when  He  was  not.1  He  denied  His  eternity,  and 
therefore  His  true  Godhead.  And  it  was  to  combat  this 
heresy,  which  had  spread  rapidly  among  wordly  and  un- 
thinking Christians,  that  this  first  of  the  six  great  Ecumenical 
or  General  Councils  of  the  Church  was  called. 

It  is  important  to  remember  that  this  Council  was  not 
convened  to  discuss  subtle  questions  of  metaphysics,  but  to 
declare  what  had  been  the  belief  of  the  Church  "from  the 
beginning."  2  It  was  not  to  make  a  new  Creed,  but  to  re- 
affirm the  true  meaning  of  the  old,  which  had  been  "delivered 
once  for  all"  to  the  Church  three  hundred  years  before, 
and  whose  identity  was  a  matter  of  human  and  credible 
testimony.  The  doctrine  of  Arius  was  a  novelty,  unknown 
to  the  Church  till  he  propounded  it.  "Who  ever  heard 
such  doctrine?"  Athanasius,  the  Deacon,  and  afterwards 
the  successor,  of  Bishop  Alexander,  demanded,  "Whence, 
from  whom  did  they  gain  it?  Who  thus  expounded  to  them 
when  they  were  at  school?"  3 

The  chief  question  before  the  Council  was  how  best  to 
express  the  truth  of  our  Lord's  Godhead,  so  as  to  guard 
against  future  misinterpretation.  The  discussion  centred 
on  a  single  Greek  word,  in  fact  on  a  single  letter.  This  word 
was  homoousion,  "of  one  substance,"  while  the  Arians  were 
only  willing  to  say  that  He  was  homoiousion>  "of  like  sub- 
stance." It  was  but  the  difference  of  an  iota  ("jot"),  or  iy 
the  smallest  letter  in  the  Greek  alphabet,  but  it  signified 
all  the  difference  between  the  Creator  and  the  creature, 
truth  and  falsehood.  Christ  was  either  God,  or  else  He  was 
only  a  creation  of  God,  therefore  infinitely  below  Him,  and 

1  See  Hooker,  Ecc.  Pol,  V,  xlii. 

2  I  S.  John  ii.  7;  2  S.  John  5. 

*  Newman,  The  Arians  of  the  Fourth  Century,  3rd.  Ed.,  p.  260,  note. 


254  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


one  who  could  be  no  object  of  divine  worship,  or  an  infallible 
guide.    There  was  no  middle  position  possible.1 

The  original  of  the  Creed  uses  the  plural  "We"  throughout, 
instead  of  the  singular  "I,"  but  in  public  worship  "I"  is  the 
use  of  both  East  and  West.  The  form  adopted  by  the 
Council,  all  the  three  hundred  and  eighteen  Bishops  signing, 
was  in  substance  that  which  we  possess  today,  ending  with 
"I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost."  The  portion  which  follows 
was  added  at  the  Second  General  Council  (Constantinople, 
a.d.  381),  to  meet  the  heresy  of  Macedonius  who  denied  the 
Godhead  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  and  it  was  confirmed  by 
the  Third  General  Council  (Ephesus,  a.d.  431),  and  by  the 
Fourth  (Chalcedon,  a.d.  451).  "The  Lord,"  after  "the 
Holy  Ghost,  does  not  mean  merely  "the  Lord  of  Life,"  but 
Jehovah,  God,  thus  affirming  His  equality  with  the  Father 
and  the  Son. 

There  is  one  exception  to  this  statement  which  must  be 
noted.  The  words  "and  from  the  Son,"  in  Latin,  Filioque, 
describing  the  procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  have  never  been 
admitted  into  the  Creed  as  used  by  the  Eastern  Church. 
They  were  first  introduced  probably  as  an  additional  protest 
against  the  Arian  denial  of  the  perfect  Godhead  of  the  Son, 
at  the  great  Council  of  Toledo  in  Spain  in  589,  or,  according 
to  Bingham,  at  the  still  earlier  Council  of  Bracara  in  411. 
Through  the  influence  of  the  Emperor  Charlemagne,  the 
reputed  author  of  the  Hymn,  Veni  Creator  Spiritus  ("Come 
Holy  Ghost"),  it  was  adopted  throughout  France  and  Ger- 
many, and  later  in  Rome,  about  850.   In  1054,  together  with 

1  It  should  be  observed  that  the  phrase  "God  of  God,"  etc.,  is  not  the 
genitive  of  possession,  but  signifies  "God  proceeding  from  God,"  etc.,  as 
the  use  of  the  preposition  ek,  "out  of,"  implies.  "Of"  should  therefore 
be  slightly  emphasized  in  recitation.  "Very"  is  of  course  an  adjective 
as  used  here,  signifying  "true"  or  "real." 


THE  THREE  CREEDS 


255 


the  insolent  assumptions  of  the  Roman  See,  it  became  a 
chief  cause  of  the  separation  of  the  Eastern  and  Western 
Churches  which  continues  to  this  day. 

The  Eastern  Church  did  not  object  so  much  to  the  doctrine 
involved,  which,  as  held  by  the  West,  does  not  materially, 
if  at  all,  differ  from  that  of  the  East,  as  it  did  to  the  fact  that 
the  addition  was  made  by  a  local  and  then  unlettered  Church, 
and  especially  that  it  was  enforced  by  the  Roman  See  by 
way  of  asserting  its  claim  of  dominion  over  the  Faith  of  the 
whole  Church.  At  the  English  Reformation  the  question 
was  not  raised,  and  so  the  clause  was  retained.  As,  however, 
the  Western  interpretation  does  not  really  differ  from  the 
doctrine  as  held  by  the  great  Eastern  Churches  (Russian, 
Greek,  etc.),  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  this  cause  of  continued 
separation  may  be  removed  in  time  by  mutual  agreement.1 

The  work  of  the  first  great  Council  of  the  Church  has  been 
well  summed  in  the  words  of  the  late  Primate  of  the  Church 
of  Ireland:  — 

"Within  six  weeks  three  hundred  and  eighteen  men,  most 
of  them  unknown  to  one  another,  speaking  many  languages, 
and  brought  from  the  ends  of  the  world,  could  give  a  formula 
which  told  of  the  Divine  Nature,  of  the  origin  of  the  world, 
of  the  destinies  of  man;  which  answers  the  eternal  questions 
—  What  am  I?  From  whence  do  I  come?  Where  am  I 
going?  —  in  a  shape  at  once  lofty  and  concise;  at  once  so 
noble  that  it  almost  seems  to  touch  the  Gloria  in  Excelsis, 
and  so  precise  that  philosophy  and  legislation  can  show 

1  The  Old  Catholics  have  removed  the  offending  Filioque  clause  from 
the  Creed,  while  they  retain  it  in  their  manuals  of  instruction.  As  a 
result  of  their  negotiations  with  the  Eastern  Church  a  commission  of 
the  Holy  Synod  adopted  three  propositions  on  the  subject,  the  third  of 
which  seems  to  admit  of  the  retention  of  the  clause  in  the  sense  of  "through 
the  Son,"  as  a  theological  "speculation."  (W.  J.  Birkbeck,  Lec.  on  the 
Russian  Churchy  pp.  39,  40,  S.  P.  C.  K.,  19 16). 


256   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


nothing  superior.  It  has  crossed  every  sea,  and  outlived 
every  generation."  1 

The  third  form  of  the  Creed,  "commonly  called  The  Creed 
of  S.  Athanasius,"  was  named  after  that  great  defender  of 
the  faith  (who  died  a.d.  373),  as  containing  an  accurate  state- 
ment of  what  he  and  the  true  Catholics  of  his  day  believed. 
Many  writers  speak  of  it  as  a  Hymn,  or  Psalm,  placing  it 
in  the  same  list  as  the  Te  Deum,  which  is  also  a  Creed  in 
the  form  of  a  Hymn.  It  has  been  variously  attributed  to 
Hilary,  Bishop  of  Aries  in  429,  and  to  Victricius,  Bishop  of 
Rouen  in  401,  as  intended  to  meet  the  spread  of  Arianism 
in  the  French  Church.2  The  title,  ^uicunque  vult,  is  the 
Latin  for  the  first  two  words,  "Whosoever  will. "  "In  Rome 
the  ^uicunque  does  not  seem  to  have  been  regarded  as 
one  of  the  Creeds  before  the  days  of  Pope  Innocent  III  (a.d. 
1198-1216),  and  its  acceptance  in  the  Greek  Church  was 
probably  somewhat  later."  3 

The  first  two  verses  and  the  last  are  not,  strictly  speaking, 
part  of  the  Hymn,  or  at  least  are  not  part  of  the  Faith  which 
the  Hymn  contains.  They  form  a  kind  of  preface  and  con- 
clusion to  the  Creed  proper.4  Of  this,  Part  I  declares  the 
Catholic  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  and  Part  II  the  doctrine  o 
the  Incarnation. 

The  words,  "Whosoever  will  be  saved,"  mean  "Whosoever 
willeth  (that  is,  desireth)  to  be  saved."   Neither  they  nor  the 

1  Primary  Convictions,  p.  20. 

2  See  Waterland,  Critical  His.  of  Athn.  Creed;  Harvey,  His.  and  Theology 
of  the  Three  Creeds,  p.  580;  and  Ommaney,  Critical  Dissertation  on  the  Athn. 
Creed. 

3  J.  R.  Lumby,  Prayer  Book  Commentary,  p.  82. 

4  The  Nicene  Creed,  as  adopted  by  the  great  Council,  had  a  similar 
"damnatory  clause,"  or  anathema,  appended  to  it,  but  it  forms  no  part 
of  the  Creed,  and  has  never  been  recited  in  the  worship  of  the  Church. 
For  the  words  of  the  Athanasian  Creed  see  pp.  258,  sq. 


THE  THREE  CREEDS 


257 


words  in  the  second  verse  pronounce  judgment  upon  any 
who  have  not  the  opportunity  of  knowing  the  truth.  In 
fact,  they  express  no  more  than  our  Lord's  own  words,  "He 
that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved;  but  he  that 
disbelieveth  shall  be  condemned"1  Moreover,  it  is  very 
certain  that  they  who  live  holy  lives,  and  who,  through  no 
fault  of  their  own,  do  not  while  on  earth  "hold  the  Catholick 
faith, "  will  have  it  made  clear  to  them,  and  will  hold  it  in 
Paradise  ere  the  fulness  of  salvation  is  reached  in  the  "life 
everlasting,,  of  Heaven. 

It  is  of  this  Creed  that  Keble  wrote:  — 

"The  Psalm  that  gathers  in  one  glorious  lay 
All  chants  that  e'er  from  heaven  to  earth  found  way: 
Majestic  march!  as  meet  to  guide  and  time 
Man's  wandering  path  in  life's  ungenial  clime, 
As  Aaron's  trump  for  the  dread  Ark's  array. 
Creed  of  the  Saints,  and  Anthem  of  the  Blest, 
And  calm-breathed  warning  of  the  kindliest  love 
That  ever  heaved  a  wakeful  mother's  breast, 
(True  love  is  bold,  and  gravely  dares  reprove,) 
Who  knows  but  myriads  owe  their  endless  rest 
To  thy  recalling,  tempted  else  to  rove?" 

—  Lyra  Apostolica. 

All  three  forms  of  the  Creed  were  used  in  the  early  English 
Offices.  The  Nicene  had  its  place  in  that  for  Holy  Commun- 
ion, while  the  Apostles',  and  the  Athanasian  were  appointed 
in  the  Daily  Prayers.  The  latter  was  sung  daily  at  Prime, 
whereas  in  the  Roman  Breviary  it  is  ordered  to  be  used  only 
on  Sundays. 

In  1549  the  Apostles'  Creed  was  appointed  for  ordinary 
use,  both  morning  and  evening,  but  the  Athanasian  was  to 
be  said  in  ;ts  stead  at  Matins  upon  the  six  festivals  of  Christ- 
mas, Epiphany,  Easter,  Ascension,  Pentecost,  and  Trinity. 

1  S.  Mark  xvi;  16,  R.V. 


258   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


In  1552  seven  Saints'  Days  were  added,  so  that  the  Creed 
might  be  said  at  intervals  of  a  month  throughout  the  year. 
This  is  still  the  rule  of  the  English  Book.  The  Church  of 
Ireland  at  the  revision  of  1877  retained  the  Creed  in  its  cus- 
tomary place  after  Evening  Prayer,  and  continued  to  declare 
it,  in  her  eighth  Article  of  Religion,  to  be  of  equal  authority 
with  the  other  two  Creeds,  but  the  rubric  providing  for  its 
public  use  was  omitted.  The  American  Church  in  1789  un- 
fortunately omitted  the  Creed  itself,  as  well  as  any  reference 
to  it  in  the  eighth  Article,  but  she  implicitly  accepts  it  in  the 
Preface  to  the  Prayer  Book,  where  she  declares  that  "this 
Church  is  far  from  intending  to  depart  from  the  Church  of 
England  in  any  essential  point  of  doctrine,  discipline,  or 
worship;  or  further  than  local  circumstances  require." 

Appendix  to  Chapter  XXV 

THE  CREED  OF  SAINT  ATHANASIUS 
(commonly  so-called) 

QUICUNQUE  VULT 

Whosoever  will  be  saved:  before  all  things  it  is  necessary 
that  he  hold  the  Catholick  Faith. 

Which  Faith  except  everyone  do  keep  whole  and  undefiled: 
without  doubt  he  shall  perish  everlastingly. 

1.  And  the  Catholick  Faith  is  this:  That  we  worship  one 
God  in  Trinity,  and  Trinity  in  Unity. 

Neither  confounding  the  Persons:  nor  dividing  the 
Substance. 

For  there  is  one  Person  of  the  Father,  another  of  the 
Son:  and  another  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

But  the  Godhead  of  the  Father,  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  is  all  one:  the  Glory  equal,  the  Majesty  co- 
eternal. 

Such  as  the  Father  is,  such  is  the  Son:  and  such  is  the 
Holy  Ghost. 


THE  THREE  CREEDS 


259 


The  Father  uncreate,  the  Son  uncreate:  and  the  Holy 
Ghost  uncreate. 

The  Father  incomprehensible,  the  Son  incomprehensible: 
and  the  Holy  Ghost  incomprehensible. 

The  Father  eternal,  the  Son  eternal:  and  the  Holy  Ghost 
eternal. 

And  yet  they  are  not  three  eternals:  but  one  eternal. 

As  also  there  are  not  three  incomprehensibles,  nor  three 
uncreated:  but  one  uncreated,  and  one  incomprehensible. 

So  likewise  the  Father  is  Almighty,  the  Son  Almighty:  and 
the  Holy  Ghost  Almighty. 

And  yet  they  are  not  three  Almighties:  but  one 
Almighty. 

So  the  Father  is  God,  the  Son  is  God:  and  the  Holy  Ghost 
is  God. 

And  yet  they  are  not  three  Gods:  but  one  God. 

So  likewise  the  Father  is  Lord,  the  Son  Lord:  and  the 
Holy  Ghost  Lord. 

And  yet  not  three  Lords:  but  one  Lord. 

For  like  as  we  are  compelled  by  the  Christian  verity:  to 
acknowledge  every  Person  by  himself  to  be  God  and  Lord; 

So  are  we  forbidden  by  the  Catholick  Religion:  to  say, 
There  be  three  Gods,  or  three  Lords. 

The  Father  is  made  of  none:  neither  created  nor 
begotten. 

The  Son  is  of  the  Father  alone:  not  made,  nor  created,  but 
begotten. 

The  Holy  Ghost  is  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son:  neither 
made,  nor  created,  nor  begotten,  but  proceeding. 

So  there  is  one  Father,  not  three  Fathers;  one  Son,  not 
three  Sons:  one  Holy  Ghost,  not  three  Holy  Ghosts. 

And  in  this  Trinity  none  is  afore,  or  after  other:  none  is 
greater,  or  less  than  another: 

But  the  whole  three  Persons  are  co-eternal  together:  and 
co-equal. 

So  that  in  all  things,  as  is  aforesaid:  the  Unity  in  Trinity 
and  the  Trinity  in  Unity  is  to  be  worshipped. 

He  therefore  that  will  be  saved:  must  thus  think  of  the 
Trinity. 


26o  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP     THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


2.  Furthermore,  it  is  necessary  to  everlasting  salvation: 
that  he  also  believe  rightly  the  Incarnation  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ. 

For  the  right  Faith  is,  that  we  believe  and  confess:  that 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  is  God  and  Man. 

God,  of  the  Substance  of  the  Father,  begotten  before  the 
worlds:  and  Man,  of  the  Substance  of  his  Mother,  born  in 
the  world; 

Perfect  God,  and  perfect  Man:  of  a  reasonable  soul  and 
human  flesh  subsisting. 

Equal  to  the  Father,  as  touching  his  Godhead:  and  in- 
ferior to  the  Father,  as  touching  his  Manhood. 

Who  although  he  be  God  and  Man;  yet  he  is  not  two,  but 
one  Christ; 

One;  not  by  conversion  of  the  Godhead  into  flesh:  but 
by  taking  of  the  Manhood  into  God; 

One  altogether,  not  by  confusion  of  Substance:  but  by 
unity  of  Person. 

For  as  the  reasonable  soul  and  flesh  is  one  man:  so  God 
and  Man  is  one  Christ; 

Who  suffered  for  our  salvation:  descended  into  hell,  rose 
again  the  third  day  from  the  dead. 

He  ascended  into  heaven,  he  sitteth  on  the  right  hand  of 
the  Father,  God  Almighty:  from  whence  he  shall  come  to 
judge  the  quick  and  the  dead. 

At  whose  coming  all  men  shall  rise  again  with  their  bodies: 
and  shall  give  account  for  their  own  works. 

And  they  that  have  done  good  shall  go  into  life  everlasting: 
and  they  that  have  done  evil,  into  everlasting  fire. 

This  is  the  Catholick  Faith,  which  except  a  man  believe 
faithfully  he  cannot  be  saved. 

Glory  be  to  the  Father,  etc. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 


The  Prayers,  Litany,  and  Occasional  Prayers 

"Non  vox  sed  votum;  non  chordula  musica  sed  cor;  non  cantans  sed  amans 
cantat  in  aure  Dei."  (Not  the  word  but  the  wish;  not  the  harpstring 
but  the  heart;  not  the  singing  but  the  loving,  sings  in  the  ear  of  God.) 
—  S.  Augustine. 

WE  come  now  to  the  fourth  and  final  division  of  the 
Daily  Offices.  The  recitation  of  the  Creed  in  the 
old  service,  as  well  as  in  the  new,  is  followed  in  the  English 
Book  by  what  is  called  the  "Mutual  Salutation,"  or 
"Benediction"  of  Priest  and  People  ("The  Lord  be  with 
you,"  etc.),  which  is  incidentally  a  witness  to  the  priestly 
character  of  both  Priests  and  People,  each  blessing  the  other 
according  to  their  position  as  "Ministers,"  or  else  as  Mem- 
bers of  the  "Royal  Priesthood"  to  which  every  baptized 
and  confirmed  believer  is  admitted.1  This  Salutation,  "which 
is  of  primitive  if  not  Apostolic  origin,"  2  marks  the  transition 
here  from  the  service  of  Praise  to  that  of  Prayer. 

The  "Lesser  Litany,"  addressed  to  each  Person  of  the 
Holy  Trinity,  "Lord,  have  mercy  upon  us;  Christ,  have 
mercy  upon  us;  Lord,  have  mercy  upon  us,"  precedes  the 
Lord's  Prayer.  Following  the  ancient  custom,  "the  Priest," 
as  he  is  now  called,  is  directed  in  the  English  Book  to  stand 
up  during  the  recitation  of  the  six  versicles  and  responses 
which  are  taken  from  the  old  service  books,  all  save  the 
fifth  being  found  in  the  Psalter.3 

1  See  i  Peter  ii,  9;  Rev.  i,  6;  v,  10;  and  compare  the  mutual  Confession 
and  Absolution,  chap,  xvii,  p.  167. 

2  Proctor  and  Frere,  p.  393. 

3  Ps.  lxxxv,  7;  xx,  9;  cxxxii,  9;  xxviii,  9;  li,  10,  II. 


262   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

In  the  American  Book  the  Lesser  Litany  and  Lord's  Prayer 
are  omitted  here.  The  word  "Priest"  is  retained,  but  there 
is  no  direction  for  him  to  stand,  as  in  the  English  Book.  The 
Salutation  also  is  followed  directly  in  the  American  Book  by 
the  six  Versicles,  beginning  "O  Lord,  show  Thy  mercy, 
etc."  ;  but  only  the  first  and  the  last  versicle  are  said  at 
Matins.  The  others,  which  had  been  omitted  in  1789,  were 
restored  to  Evensong  in  1892;  "O  Lord,  save  the  State" 
being  substituted  for  "O  Lord,  save  the  King."  The  re- 
sponse to  "Give  peace,  etc.,"  "Because  there  is  none  other 
that  fighteth  for  us  but  only  Thou,  O  God,"  was  also  changed 
to, "  For  it  is  Thou,  Lord,  only,  that  makest  us  dwell  in  safety." 
The  English  form  implies  a  state  of  frequent  wars,  the  com- 
mon experience  of  earlier  days,  and,  alas,  one  that  is  not  yet 
banished  from  the  earth. 

The  Collect  for  the  Day,  which  follows  first,  is  a  link 
between  the  Daily  Offices  and  that  for  Holy  Communion. 
It  is  intended  to  carry  forward  the  special  teaching  of  the 
previous  Sunday  or  other  Festival,  like 

"Healthful  founts  in  Elim  green, 
Casting  a  freshness  o'er  the  week." 1 

The  Morning  and  Evening  Collects  "For  Peace," 
"For  Grace,"  and  "For  Aid  against  Perils,"  and  the  "Prayer 
for  Clergy  and  People,"  2  are  translations  from  the  old  Salis- 
bury Use,  and  are  found  in  the  Sacramentaries  of  Gelasius 
and  Gregory.  The  terse  and  beautiful  phrase,  "Whose 
service  is  perfect  freedom,"  has  a  still  more  epigrammatic 
form  in  the  Latin  original,  Cui  servire  regnare  est,  "Whom  to 

1  Isaac  Williams,  The  Cathedral,  and  see  Ex.  xv,  27. 

2  The  phrase  in  this  prayer,  "Who  alone  workest  great  marvels"  (Ps. 
Ixxxvi,  8),  was  changed  in  the  American  Book  of  1789  to  "From  ^hom 
cometh  every  good  and  perfect  gift." 


PRAYERS,  LITANY  tfc 


263 


serve  is  to  reign. "  It  is  not  too  much  to  claim,  however, 
that  the  English  version,  while  preserving  the  strength  of 
the  Latin,  is  more  graceful,  and  at  the  same  time  suggestive 
of  a  great  truth  dear  to  English  ears. 

The  Prayer  of  S.  Chrysostom,  which  brings  the  service 
to  a  happy  close,  is  probably  not  the  composition  of  this 
great  Bishop.  It  does  not  occur  in  the  old  English  Offices, 
but  is  taken  directly  word  for  word  from  the  Liturgy  of  the 
Eastern  Church  which  was  originally  revised  by  Basil  and 
Chrysostom  (370-397)  and  where  it  is  called  the  "Prayer  of 
the  Third  Antiphon".1  Its  position  at  the  end  of  the  Office 
may  sometimes  suggest  to  us  the  humiliating  memory  of 
wandering  thoughts,  and  bid  us  ask,  Have  we  indeed  made 
"our  common  supplications"  to  God?  It  was  first  used  at 
the  end  of  the  Litany  in  1544.  In  1637  it  received  its  pres- 
ent place  in  the  Scottish  Prayer  Book,  and  in  1662  in  the 
English. 

We  have  already  seen  the  early  beginnings  of  the  use  of 
a  Litany.  The  word  has  a  Greek  origin,  and  in  its  primary 
meaning  denotes  supplication  or  petition  in  general.  In  the 
Testament  of  our  Lord  (fourth  century),  and  the  Apostolic 
Constitutions,  there  is  a  form  of  supplication  of  the  kind 
which  we  now  call  a  Litany.2  The  Deacon  names  the  subjects 
of  petition,  and  the  people  answer  to  each,  "Lord,  have 
mercy"  ;  the  words,  "Let  us  pray,"  being  frequently 
introduced. 

Sometime  in  the  fourth  century  the  Litany  in  the  Eastern 
Church  3  assumed  the  form  of  a  solemn  street  processional, 
as  m  Constantinople,  for  an  offset  against  the  Arian  methods 

1  Neale,  Prim.  Lit.,  p.  95. 

*  Maclean,  Recent  Discoveries,  p.  33. 

5  Called  the  Ectene,  from  the  word  ektenesteron,  "more  earnestly," 
describing  our  Lord's  prayer  in  Gethsemane,  S.  Luke  xxii,  44. 


264   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

in  398.  It  was  joined  in  by  clergy  and  people,  and  hymns 
were  employed  in  it  also.1  From  the  fact  that  the  Kyrie, 
eleison,  "Lord,  have  mercy,"  formed  so  large  a  part  of  the 
Litany,  this  alone  came  to  be  called  the  Litany,  and  the  name 
with  this  signification  lingers  in  that  three-fold  Kyrie,  "Lord, 
have  mercy  —  Christ,  have  mercy  —  Lord,  have  mercy," 
which  is  still  called  the  Lesser  Litany. 

The  use  of  Litanies  in  the  West  is  clearly  associated  with 
the  Rogation  Days,  the  three  fasts  preceding  the  Feast  of 
the  Ascension.2  Their  use  in  the  Church  of  France,  about 
A.D.  460,  on  the  occasion  of  grievous  calamities  in  the  diocese 
of  Vienne,  seems  to  be  the  first  appointment  of  Litanies  for 
fixed  days  of  the  year.  At  the  close  of  the  next  century, 
under  Gregory  the  Great  of  Rome,  the  custom  was  further 
developed,  and  we  find  S.  Augustine  with  his  company  of 
missionaries,  whom  Gregory  sent  to  convert  the  Angles  and 
Saxons,  entering  the  kingdom  of  Kent,  and  the  old  city  of 
Canterbury,  chanting  such  a  Litany  (a.d.  597).  In  course 
of  time  Psalms  and  even  anthems  were  added  in  the  solemn 
processions,  which  were  usually  headed  with  a  cross,  and 
collects  were  said  at  certain  stations  along  the  way.  Besides 
the  Rogation  Days,  Litanies  were  accustomed  to  be  said  in 
the  early  English  Church  during  Lent  also,  and  on  special 
occasions. 

The  Litany  as  we  have  it  today  is  said  to  have  been 
arranged  by  Archbishop  Cranmer,  and  the  remarkable  beauty 
and  rhythm  of  its  language  seem  to  justify  the  praise  of 
Hooker,  himself  a  great  stylist,  when  he  speaks  of  it  as  "a 
work,  the  absolute  perfection  whereof  upbraideth  with  error, 
or  something  worse,  them  whom  in  all  parts  it  doth  not 


1  P.  &  F.,  p.  405. 

1  For  the  origin  of  these  days  see  The  Christian  Tear;  Its  Purpo.e  and 
Its  History,  p.  121. 


PRAYERS,  LITANY  tfc 


265 


satisfy."  Defending  it  against  the  carping  objections  of 
the  Puritans  he  writes:  — 

"As  therefore  Litanies  have  been  of  longer  continuance 
than  that  we  should  make  either  Gregory  or  Mamercus  the 
author  of  them,  so  they  are  of  more  permanent  use  than  that 
now  the  Church  should  think  it  needeth  them  not.  What 
dangers  at  any  time  are  imminent,  what  evils  hang  over 
our  heads,  God  doth  know  and  not  we.  We  find  by  daily 
experience  that  those  calamities  may  be  nearest  at  hand, 
readiest  to  break  in  suddenly  upon  us,  which  we  in  regard  of 
times  or  circumstances  may  imagine  to  be  furthest  off.  Or 
if  they  do  not  indeed  approach,  yet  such  miseries  as  being 
present  all  men  are  apt  to  bewail  with  tears,  the  wise  by  their 
prayers  should  rather  prevent.  Finally,  if  we  for  ourselves 
had  a  privilege  of  immunity,  doth  not  true  Christian  charity 
require  that  whatsoever  any  part  of  the  world,  yea,  any  one 
of  all  our  brethren  elsewhere,  doth  either  suffer  or  fear,  the 
same  we  account  as  our  own  burden?  What  one  petition  is 
there  found  in  the  whole  Litany,  whereof  we  shall  ever  be 
able  at  any  time  to  say  that  no  man  living  needeth  the  grace 
or  benefit  therein  craved  at  God's  hands?  I  am  not  able  to 
express  how  much  it  doth  grieve  me,  that  things  of  principal 
excellency  should  be  thus  bitten  at,  by  men  whom  God  hath 
endued  with  graces  both  of  wit  and  learning  for  better 
purposes."  1 

Most  of  the  petitions  of  our  present  Litany  have  been  in 
use  in  the  English  Church  for  more  than  a  thousand  years. 
There  were  English  versions  of  the  Litany  in  the  Prymers, 
or  Prayer  Books  of  the  People,  and  in  common  use  as  early 
as  the  fourteenth  century.2  The  present  form  was  put  forth 
in  1544,  and  was  called  the  Common  Prayer  of  Procession. 
With  the  exception  of  the  Creed,  Lord's  Prayer,  and  the 
Decalogue,  which  were  issued  in  English  in  1536,  it  was  the 


1  Ecc.  Pol,  V,  xli,  3,  4. 

2  See  Maskell,  Mon.  Rit.y  II,  pp.  217,  223,  for  examples. 


266   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP     THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


first  part  of  the  Prayer  Book  that  appeared  in  tjie  "tongue 
understanded  of  the  people." 

The  rubric  at  this  time  directed  the  Litany  to  be  "sung," 
as  had  been  the  custom  hitherto.  In  1549  it  was  ordered 
"said  or  sung"  on  Wednesdays  and  Fridays.  In  1552  there 
was  added  "Sundays,  and  at  other  times."  At  the  last 
revision  in  1662,  the  order  was  changed  to  "sung  or  said,"  as 
in  both  English  and  Irish  Books  of  today.  In  accordance 
with  the  Injunctions  of  Edward  VI  and  Elizabeth  the  place 
where  it  was  to  be  said  was  "in  the  midst  of  the  church,"  that 
is,  on  the  floor  of  the  nave,  at  the  entrance  to  the  choir,  and 
a  "faldstool,"  or  folding-stool,  was  usually  provided  for  this 
purpose.1 

It  will  add  to  the  intelligent  and  reverent  use  of  the  Litany 
to  note  its  several  divisions,  each  distinct  of  its  kind.  There 
are  in  all  five  of  these,  namely,  (1)  the  Invocations,  "O  God 
the  Father,"  etc.;  (2)  the  Deprecations  (preceded  by  the 
prayer,  "Remember  not,"  etc.),  "From  all  evil,"  etc.;  (3) 
the  Obsecrations,  "By  the  mystery,"  etc.;  (4)  the  Sup- 
plications, "We  sinners  do  beseech  Thee,"  etc.;  (5)  the 
Versicles  and  Prayers.2 

In  the  mediaeval  Litanies  numerous  saints  were  invoked 
by  name,  beginning  with  the  Blessed  Virgin,  angels  and 
archangels,  patriarchs,  and  apostles,  each  followed  by  the 

1  Compare  Joel  ii,  17,  "between  the  porch  and  the  altar."  Bp.  Doane 
of  Albany  used  to  say  that  the  reason  for  this  place  for  the  Litany  was 
that  the  Priest  might  be  down  among  "the  other  miserable  sinners." 

2  "Father  of  Heaven"  {Pater  de  coelis)  is  of  course  the  equivalent  of 
"Heavenly  Father."  It  is  a  common  error  in  reciting  the  response,  "Have 
mercy  upon  us  miserable  sinners,"  to  emphasize  the  word  "upon"  as  if 
it  were  of  chief  importance,  and  to  make  a  pause  after  "us."  A  little 
thought  will  show  that  the  emphatic  word  is  "mercy,"  and  that  "us" 
and  "miserable  sinners,"  being  in  apposition,  should  be  spoken,  as  they 
are  printed,  without  any  pause. 


PRAYERS,  LITANY  tfc 


267 


response,  "Pray  for  us"  {Or  a  pro  nobis).  Following  the 
revision  of  the  offices  made  by  Hermann,  Archbishop  of 
Cologne,  these  invocations  were  all  omitted  in  the  English 
revision  of  1549.1  The  fifth  deprecation  at  this  time  read, 
"From  all  sedition  and  privy  conspiracy;  from  the  tyranny 
of  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  and  all  his  detestable  enormities; 
from  all  false  doctrine  and  heresy;  from  hardness  of  heart, 
and  contempt  of  Thy  word  and  commandment,  Good  Lordy 
deliver  us."  This  reference  to  the  Bishop  of  Rome  was 
omitted  in  Elizabeth's  reign  (1559).  The  absence  of  the 
word  "schism"  in  both  Books  is  very  noteworthy,  as  it  was 
not  until  1568  that  the  first  Protestant  sect,  that  of  the 
Congregationalists  or  Independents,  was  formed;  and  not 
until  1570  that  the  Roman  Bishop,  Pius  V,  finding  that  he 
could  not  bring  the  English  Catholic  Church  back  into  his 
obedience,  sent  foreign  Priests  into  the  country,  who  drew 
away  members  of  the  Church  from  their  ancient  parish 
churches,  and  their  lawful  English  Priests  and  Bishops.  This 
was  the  beginning  of  the  Roman  sect  or  schism  in  England. 
Up  to  this  time  there  never  had  been  any  such  body  known, 
either  to  the  ecclesiastical  or  the  civil  law,  as  the  "Roman 
Catholic  Church"  in  England.2 

1  On  the  general  question  of  the  Invocation  of  Saints,  see  chap.  xiv. 

8  It  was  not  until  1623  that  this  Roman  sect  received  its  first  Bishop, 
and  it  was  not  until  more  than  two  hundred  years  later,  namely,  in  1850,  that 
it  ventured  to  claim  for  itself  any  local  jurisdiction  in  the  land,  or  to  adopt 
local  titles  for  its  Bishops,  such  as  Westminster,  Salford,  etc.,  sees  unknown 
hitherto  in  English  history.  Up  to  that  year  they  were  merely  Bishops 
in  partibus  infidelium,  that  is,  with  titles  taken  from  heathen  lands.  The 
first  Presbyterian  societies  came  into  existence  in  1572,  and  in  1633  the 
Baptists  separated  from  the  Congregationalists,  since  which  time  the 
"Dissidence  of  Dissent"  has  gone  on  increasing,  so  that  in  the  beginning 
of  the  twentieth  century  there  were  nearly  two  hundred  sects  "professing 
and  calling  themselves  Christians  "  in  England  alone. 


268   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


It  is  to  be  observed  that  all  the  petitions  of  the  Litany 
proper,  with  the  exception  of  three  (to  the  Father,  the  Holy- 
Ghost,  and  the  Holy  Trinity),  are  addressed  to  the  Lord 
Jesus.  The  appropriateness  of  this  appeal  to  Him  "who  was 
in  all  points  tempted  like  as  we  are,"  and  can  therefore 
be  "touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities,"  1  is  espe- 
cially evident  in  the  Deprecations  from  bodily  and  spiritual 
evils. 

The  American  Church  in  1789  necessarily  omitted  all 
mention  of  the  King,  the  royal  family,  and  the  Council  and 
Nobility,  and  changed  the  petition  so  as  to  read,  "That  it 
may  please  Thee  to  bless  and  preserve  all  Christian  Rulers 
and  Magistrates."  The  petition,  "From  fornication,  and 
all  other  deadly  sin"  was  changed  to  "From  all  inordinate 
and  sinful  affections."  It  was  also  ordered  that  after  "0 
Lamb  of  God,  etc.,"  the  Minister  may,  at  his  discretion,  omit 
all  that  followeth,  to  the  Prayer,  "We  humbly  beseech  Thee, 
O  Father,  etc."  In  the  American  revision  of  1892,  after  the 
petition,  "That  it  may  please  Thee  to  illuminate  all  Bishops, 
etc.,"  there  was  added,  "That  it  may  please  Thee  to  send 
forth  labourers  into  Thy  harvest."  In  the  Preface,  "Con- 
cerning the  Service  of  the  Church,"  it  was  declared  that  "The 
order  for  Morning  Prayer,  the  Litany,  and  the  Order  for  the 
Administration  of  the  Lord's  Supper  or  Holy  Commun- 
ion, are  distinct  services,  and  may  be  used  either  separately 
or  together;  Provided,  that  no  one  of  these  Services  be 
habitually  disused." 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  beautiful  Collect  following 
the  Versicle,  "O  Lord,  deal  not  with  us  after  [that  is,  as  in 
the  American  Book,  according  to~\  our  sins,"  2  does  not  end 
with  the  usual  Amen,  because  the  Versicles  that  follow  carry 
on  the  thoughts  there  expressed.    "This  portion  of  the 

1  Heb.  iv,  15.  2  Compare  Ps.,  ciii,  10. 


PRAYERS,  LITANY  tfc 


269 


Litany  was  taken  from  the  mediaeval  Litany  sung  on  Roga- 
tion Monday,  and  the  first  clause,  'O  Lord,  arise,  help  us, 
and  deliver  us,  for  Thy  Name's  sake/  is  adopted  from  Ps. 
xliv,  26,  while  the  words  of  Ps.  xliv,  1  supply  the  verse  in 
which  we  seek  to  remind  the  Most  High  of  the  noble  works 
declared  unto  us  as  wrought  by  Him  in  those  days,  and  in 
the  old  time  before  them.,,  1  The  introduction  of  the  Gloria 
here  is  also  very  fitting  as  an  act  of  praise  and  thanksgiving 
to  the  Holy  Trinity  for  all  that  God  has  done  for  us  in  the 
past,  is  doing  for  us  now,  and  we  trust  will  do  for  us  through 
all  eternity. 

The  Versicles  that  follow  the  Gloria,  "From  our  enemies, 
etc."  are  particularly  appropriate  to  times  of  war  and  public 
sorrow,  or  of  private  trial  and  affliction.  The  final  col- 
lect is  an  adaptation  from  one  appointed  in  the  old  Sarum 
Office  for  All  Saints'  Day.  The  American  Church  placed 
the  General  Thanksgiving  here  before  the  Prayer  of  S. 
Chrysostom. 

The  prayers  following  those  for  Peace,  Grace,  and  Aid 
against  Perils  at  Matins  and  Evensong,  and  the  Occasional 
Prayers  and  Thanksgivings  (with  one  exception),  were  com- 
posed by  Cranmer,  Cosin,  Gunning,  Reynolds,  and  others. 
In  this  they  only  did  what  Basil,  Chrysostom,  Leo,  Gelasius, 
and  Gregory  did  a  thousand  years  or  more  before.  The  one 
exception  is  the  beautiful  Collect  in  the  Occasional  Prayers, 
"0  God  whose  nature  and  property  is  ever  to  have  mercy 
and  to  forgive,"  etc.,  which  had  its  place  in  the  English 
Prymer  from  the  earliest  times,  and  may  be  traced  to  the 
Sacramentary  of  S.  Gregory  (a.d.  590).  For  some  strange 
reason  this  prayer  was  omitted  from  the  American  Book  in 
1789,  but  was  restored  in  1892,  and  placed  in  the  Penitential 
Office  for  Ash  Wednesday. 

1  Maclear,  Pr.  Bk.  Comm.,  p.  55. 


270  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

The  Occasional  Prayers  and  Thanksgivings  were 
given  their  present  place  in  the  Prayer  Book  in  1662.  Of  the 
two  prayers  for  the  Ember  Days,  the  former  was  composed 
by  Bp.  Cosin,  and  the  second  is  taken  from  the  Ordination 
Service.1  The  Prayer  for  the  High  Court  of  Parliament 
was  probably  composed  by  Archbishop  Laud  in  1625,  for 
that  body  which,  "by  a  strange  irony  of  history,  some 
twenty  years  later,  sent  him  to  the  block,  as  the  first  man  in 
England  condemned  to  death  by  Parliament,"  2  that  is,  by 
attainder,  and  not  by  due  process  of  law.  In  the  American 
Prayer  Book  this  became,  with  the  necessary  changes,  "A 
Prayer  for  Congress. "  The  "Collect  or  Prayer  for  All  Con- 
ditions of  Men,3  to  be  used  at  such  times  when  the  Litany 
is  not  appointed  to  be  said,"  was  at  the  same  time  trans- 
ferred, together  with  the  General  Thanksgiving,  to  the  end  of 
Morning  and  Evening  Prayer,  as  being  in  that  place  more 
convenient  for  use. 

The  Thanksgivings  for  Rain,  Fair  Weather,  Plenty,  Peace, 
Deliverance  from  Enemies,  and  from  Sickness,  date  from 
1604.  That  for  Restoring  Peace  at  Home  was  appropriately 
inserted  in  1662  after  the  Restoration  of  Charles  II  in  1660, 
when  the  Church  was  once  more  given  her  liberty,  and 
the  free  use  of  her  church  buildings  and  her  Prayer  Book, 
after  being  forbidden  to  do  so  by  the  usurping  Parliament 
for  fifteen  years.   It  owes  its  origin  to  Bishop  Wren,  perse- 

1  For  the  derivation  of  the  word  Ember,  and  the  occasion  of  the  ap- 
pointment of  the  Ember  Days,  see  The  Christian  Tear:  Its  Purpose  and 
its  History,  pp.  120,  121. 

2  Dr.  Samuel  Hart,  The  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  p.  109. 

3  The  petition  "that  all  who  profess  and  call  themselves  Christians 
may  be  led  into  the  way  of  truth"  evidently  referred  to  the  Puritans,  and 
is  therefore  peculiarly  applicable  today  to  those  many  sects  which  are 
an  almost  direct  result  of  this  earliest  separation  from  the  ancient  branch 
of  the  Catholic  Church  in  England. 


PRAYERS,  LITANY  tfc 


271 


cuted  by  the  Puritans,  and  a  prisoner  in  the  Tower  for 
eighteen  years. 

Prayers  to  be  used  at  the  Meetings  of  Convention  (General 
or  Diocesan),  and  for  Persons  going  to  Sea,  also  Thanksgivings 
for  a  Recovery  from  Sickness,  and  for  a  Safe  Return  from 
Sea,  were  added  to  the  American  Book  in  1789.  In  1892  there 
were  added  prayers  for  "The  Unity  of  God's  People"  (taken 
from  the  English  service  for  the  Anniversary  of  the  Acces- 
sion of  a  Sovereign) ;  for  Missions,  for  Fruitful  Seasons  (two 
forms,  for  the  Rogation  Days,  the  former  taken  from  the 
proposed  English  revision  of  1689),  and  a  Thanksgiving  for 
a  Child's  Recovery  from  Sickness.1 

1  There  is  a  confessed  need,  both  in  England  and  America,  for  addi- 
tional prayers  for  special  occasions.  Some,  however,  are  of  the  opinion 
that  this  can  be  better  attained  by  the  authorization  of  a  separate  Book 
of  Offices,  which  would  not  be  subject  to  the  rigid  rules  necessarily  con- 
trolling the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  and  in  which  such  prayers  could  be 
tested  by  actual  use. 

Canon  Bright's  Ancient  Collects,  containing  translations  from  Eastern 
as  well  as  Western  Sacramentaries,  is  a  rich  mine  of  devotions  which  might 
well,  nay  must  be,  largely  drawn  upon  for  such  a  book  as  the  Church  needs. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 


Ornaments  of  the  Church,  and  of  the  Ministers 
Thereof 

"Every  particular  or  national  Church  hath  authority  to  ordain,  change, 
and  abolish,  Ceremonies  or  Rites  of  the  Church  ordained  only  by  man's 
authority,  so  that  all  things  be  done  to  edifying."  —  Articles  of 
Religion. 

IN  the  revised  Books  of  1549  and  1552  few  specific  direc- 
tions were  given  as  to  the  externals  of  Divine  Service. 
These  were  left,  as  is  the  case  in  our  present  Book,  almost 
entirely  to  ancient  custom.  During  the  ten  unquiet  and 
reactionary  years  between  1549  and  1559,  however,  great 
diversity  and  gross  irregularities  had  grown  up  in  the  Church, 
chiefly  among  the  Puritans,  and  it  became  necessary  in  the 
latter  year,  when  Elizabeth  was  on  the  throne,  to  adopt  some 
definite  rule  on  the  subject.  This  was  done  in  the  form  of  a 
rubric  substantially  the  same  as  that  in  the  present  English 
Book,  which  received  its  final  shape  in  1662.  This  is  popu- 
larly called  "The  Ornaments  Rubric,"  preceding  the 
Order  for  Morning  Prayer,  and  is  as  follows:  —  "The  Morn- 
ing and  Evening  Prayer  shall  be  used  in  the  accustomed 
place  of  the  Church,  Chapel,  or  Chancel;  except  it  shall  be 
otherwise  determined  by  the  Ordinary  of  the  Place.  And 
the  Chancels  shall  remain  as  they  have  done  in  times  past. 

"And  here  is  to  be  noted,  that  such  Ornaments  of  the 
Church,  and  of  the  Ministers  thereof,  at  all  times  of  their 
Ministration,  shall  be  retained,  and  be  in  use,  as  were  in  this 
Church  of  England,  by  the  Authority  of  Parliament,  in  the 
Second  Year  of  the  Reign  of  King  Edward  the  Sixth."  (Jan. 
28,  1547-8,  to  Jan.  27,  1548-9.) 


ORNAMENTS  OF  THE  CHURCH  tfc 


Between  1559  and  1662  certain  other  directions  were 
issued,  namely:  (1)  Royal  Injunctions  in  1559;  (2)  Royal 
Advertisements  in  1564-5;  (3)  Canons  in  1603-4;  and 
(4)  Canons  in  1640.  It  is  important  to  remember,  how- 
ever, that  all  these  were  only  either  explanations  of  the 
rubric  and  statute,  or  else  attempts  to  secure  uniformity 
and  decency  in  the  conduct  of  Divine  Service.  Rubric 
and  statute,  as  the  highest  laws  of  the  Church  and  State 
in  England,  remained,  and  still  remain,  unaffected  by 
them. 

It  is  to  be  observed  also  that  the  word  "Ornaments"  as 
used  in  the  rubric  has  a  wider  meaning  than  that  in  ordinary 
use.  In  1857  the  Final  Court  of  Appeal  in  Ecclesiastical 
Causes  in  England,  namely,  the  Judicial  Committee  of  the 
Privy  Council,  consisting  of  five  lay  Judges  with  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  and  the  Bishop  of  London,  decided 
that  "the  term  'Ornaments'  in  Ecclesiastical  law  is  not 
confined,  as  by  modern  usage,  to  articles  of  decoration  or 
embellishment,  but  it  is  used  in  the  larger  sense  of  the  word 
'ornamentum.'  All  the  several  articles  used  in  the  perform- 
ance of  Services  and  Rites  of  the  Church  are  Ornaments/ 
Vestments,  Books,  Cloths,  Chalices,  and  Patens,  are  amongst 
Church  Ornaments."  Then,  after  examining  the  "Adver- 
tisements," "Injunctions,"  Canons,  etc.,  they  decide  that 
"they  all  obviously  mean  the  same  thing,  that  the  same 
dresses  and  the  same  utensils,  or  articles,  which  were  used 
under  the  first  Prayer  Book  of  Edward  the  Sixth  may  still 
be  used." 

"The  Ornaments  of  the  Minister"  here  referred  to 
are  as  follows:  —  Cope  (a  large  cloak  or  cape  (capa)  fastened 
at  the  neck  in  front),  Vestment  (that  is,  a  chasuble),  Tunicle 
(a  short  plain  surplice),  Albe  (a  long  plain  surplice  with  tight 
sleeves),  Surplice,  Hood   (especially   in   preaching),  with 


274   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP     THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


Pastoral  Staffe  and  Rochette  (an  albe  with  full  sleeves)  for 
Bishops.1 

"There  is  nothing  mysterious  about  Christian  liturgical 
dress  or  sacred  vestments.  They  are  simply  the  adaptation 
to  religious  use  of  the  ordinary  dress  of  civil,  and  particularly 
of  official,  life  in  the  Roman  Empire  in  the  first  centuries 
of  our  era.  Whatever  value  they  possess  comes  from  two 
considerations,  first  their  beauty,  dignity,  and  seemliness, 
and  secondly  their  historical  associations."  These  words 
are  from  the  Report  of  a  Sub-committee  of  the  Upper  House  of 
the  Convocation  of  Canterbury,  on  the  Ornaments  of  the  Church 
and  its  Ministers.2  The  same  report  describes  the  chimere 
as  a  sleeveless  overcoat,  and,  "like  cope  and  chasuble,  an 
out-door  dress"  ;  a  cassock,  "a  sleeveless  under-chimere  or 
tabard."  "Cranmer  is  represented  in  a  dark  green  chimere 
in  his  portrait  by  Gerbicus  Flicius,  now  in  the  National 
Portrait  Gallery,  dated  1546,  perhaps  as  a  Doctor  of 
Divinity."  3 

In  the  Office  for  the  Consecration  of  a  Bishop  in  all  branches 
of  the  Anglican  Communion  the  only  portion  of  a  Bishop's 
official  dress  that  is  named  is  the  "rochet."  The  "chimere," 
as  the  vestment  of  satin  in  ordinary  use  today  is  called,  is 
not  mentioned  there,  the  only  direction  given  being  the 
general  one  concerning  "the  rest  of  the  Episcopal  habit," 
which,  according  to  the  rubric  of  the  First  Prayer  Book  of 
Edward,  was  "a  cope  or  vestment."  In  fact  the  origin  of 
the  chimere  seems  to  be  as  follows.  In  the  reign  of  Henry 
VIII  and  Edward  VI  the  scarlet  habit  of  a  Doctor  of  Divinity 

1  See  Blunt,  Ann  Pr.  Book,  pp.  lxx-lxxiv.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the 
"black  gown,"  once  so  common  in  the  pulpit,  was  probably  a  survival 
of  the  rule  that  if  the  preacher  was  a  "regular,"  that  is,  a  monk,  "he  was 
to  continue  clothed  in  the  habit  of  his  order  only."    Scudamore,  333. 

8  S.  P.  C.  K.,  1908,  p.  5. 

8  Ibid.  p.  32;  P.  and  F.,  p.  361. 


ORNAMENTS  OF  THE  CHURCH  tfc  275 


(sometimes  called  a  chimere)  over  the  rochet  was  substi- 
tuted for  the  cope  or  vestment,  but  without  any  authority, 
and  late  in  Elizabeth's  reign  the  color  was  changed  to  black, 
probably  in  deference  to  Puritan  prejudice.  It  is  to  be  re- 
membered therefore  that  the  name  chimere  belongs  only  to 
the  Doctor's  satin  robe,  the  lawn  sleeves  being  properly  a 
part  of  the  sleeveless  rochet,  but  now  attached,  as  a  matter 
of  convenience,  to  the  chimere.1 

The  Prayer  Book  contains  no  direction  for  the  vestments 
to  be  worn  by  Priests  or  Deacons.  The  only  provision  is 
that  they  shall  be  "decently  habited"  at  their  ordination. 
For  what  this  means  we  must  look  elsewhere.  The  story  of 
Goldsmith  presenting  himself  for  ordination  in  a  scarlet 
riding  coat  may  illustrate  this  lack  of  definiteness  in  our 
ritual  law. 

"The  Ornaments  of  the  Church"  expressed  or  implied 
in  the  Book  of  1549,  though  the  rubric  undoubtedly  includes 
others,  are  as  follows:  —  The  Altar,  Lord's  Table,  or  God's 
Board,  a  Corporal,  or  "Corporas"  (linen  cloth  for  the  bread), 
Paten,  Chalice,  and  Cruets,  a  Credence  Table,  Poor  men's 
Box,  Font,  Pulpit,  and  Chair  for  the  Bishop.2 

Though  all  these  Ornaments,  and  others  not  here  specified, 
are  undoubtedly  lawful  for  English  Churchmen,  it  does  not 

1  Blunt,  574,  note.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  first  American 
Bishops,  Seabury,  of  Connecticut  (consecrated  in  1784),  and  Claggett  of 
Maryland  (in  1792)  wore  mitres.  That  of  Bishop  Seabury  is  preserved 
in  the  Library  of  Trinity  College,  Hartford,  Connecticut.  In  a  note  to 
his  Christian  Ballad  Bishop  Coxe  says  that  the  Rector  of  Litchfield  said  to 
him  in  1847,  in  answer  to  the  Bishop's  enquiry,  "Yes,  in  1785,  at  the  first 
ordination  in  this  country,  I  saw  him  [Seabury]  wearing  his  scarlet  hood 
and  that  mitre;  and  though  I  was  then  a  Dissenter,  his  stately  figure  and 
solemn  manner  impressed  me  very  much.  He  was  a  remarkable  looking 
man"  (p.  216). 

*  Ibid.  pp.  lxxii,  lxxiii. 


276   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


follow  that  where  disuse  has  been  of  long  standing,  it  would 
be  advisable  for  any  Incumbent  of  a  Parish,  under  all  cir- 
cumstances, to  introduce  them.  Even  in  ritual  matters,  as 
in  more  personal  relations,  the  apostolic  rule  holds  good,  "All 
things  are  lawful  unto  me,  but  all  things  are  not  expedient."  1 
It  is  important  to  enquire  also  in  this  connection  what 
authority,  if  any,  this  rubric  has  beyond  the  bounds  of  the 
Church  of  England.  It  is  plain  that  no  mere  interpretation 
by  an  English  court,  even  the  highest,  since  1776,  or  latest, 
1784,  can  have  any  legal  force  in  the  American  Church.  But 
as  a  witness  to  the  tradition,  custom,  and  law  inherited  from 
the  Church  that  gave  her  her  Orders,  and  her  independent 
national  existence,  the  rubric  must  be  regarded,  unless 
formally  repealed,  as  still  the  law  of  the  Church  in  the 
United  States.2  Like  the  Church  of  England  the  Church 
in  the  United  States,  by  her  adoption  of  the  "Articles  of 
Religion,"  claims  for  herself  as  "a  national  Church,  au- 
thority to  ordain,  change,  and  abolish,  Ceremonies  or  Rites 
of  the  Church  ordained  only  by  man's  authority."  3  This 
authority,  so  far  as  the  Ornaments  of  the  Church  or  of  her 
Ministers  are  concerned,  she  has  not  seen  fit  to  exercise 
either  "to  ordain,  change,"  or  "abolish,"  leaving  all,  or 
almost  all,  to  inherited  custom  or  tradition.  She  has  de- 
clared, however,  that  she  "is  far  from  intending  to  depart 
from  the  Church  of  England  in  any  essential  point  of  doctrine, 
discipline,  or  worship."  Moreover,  she  has  laid  down  the 
rule  that  "what  cannot  be  clearly  determined  to  belong  to 
Doctrine  must  be  referred  to  Discipline."  4    It  would  seem 

1  1  Cor.  vi,  12. 

2  For  a  full  statement  of  this  well-settled  principle,  with  numerous 
high  American  authorities,  see  E.  A.  White  D.C.L.,  Church  Lazv,  New  York, 
1898,  pp.  92  sq. 

3  Art.  XXXIV.  4  Preface  to  the  American  Prayer  Book. 


ORNAMENTS  OF  THE  CHURCH  Vc  277 


to  follow,  therefore,  that,  inasmuch  as  she  has  neither  by 
rubric  or  canon,  "altered,  abridged,  enlarged,  amended,  or 
otherwise  disposed  of "  the  Ornaments  prescribed  in  the  Eng- 
lish Book,  the  law  by  which  she  was  bound  from  her  first 
settlement  at  Jamestown,  Virginia,  in  1607,  to  the  year 
1776,  necessarily  remains  her  law  today.1 

Some  account  of  the  use  of  Incense  may  be  given  here  as 
connected  with  the  "Ornaments"  of  the  church.  Its  use  in 
the  Church  of  Israel  may  be  seen  from  many  passages  in  the 
Old  Testament.2  Under  the  old  dispensation  incense  was  a 
symbol  of  acceptable  prayer,  giving  its  imagery  to  the  Psal- 
mist's petition,  "Let  my  prayer  be  set  forth  in  Thy  sight  as 
incense."  3  Like  all  ceremonial  acts,  however,  it  was  subject 
to  abuse,  and  in  the  later  degenerate  days  of  the  nation  as 

1  Pr.  Bk.  p.  v.  During  the  prolonged  Ritual  discussions  in  the  General 
Conventions  of  1868  and  1871,  it  was  proposed  by  the  House  of  Bishops, 
among  other  things,  to  prohibit  the  wearing  by  Priests  and  Deacons  of 
any  vestment  except  a  white  surplice,  black  or  white  stole,  a  cassock,  "  not 
reaching  below  the  ankles,"  a  black  gown,  and  "bands."  The  use  of 
incense,  carrying  a  cross  in  procession,  the  ritual  use  of  lights  on  the  altar, 
the  mixing  of  water  with  the  wine  of  Holy  Communion,  the  ablution  of 
the  vessels  in  presence  of  the  congregation,  surpliced  choirs,  choral  service, 
without  the  consent  of  the  Vestry  and  Bishop,  cottas  or  short  surplices 
for  choristers,  etc.,  were  also  to  be  forbidden.  In  1871  this  attempt  to 
legislate  on  ritual  was  finally  abandoned.  This  was  done  by  the  adoption 
with  practical  unanimity  of  a  resolution  declaring  that  only  "ceremonies, 
observances,  and  practices  which  are  fitted  to  express  a  doctrine  foreign 
to  that  set  forth  in  the  authorized  standards  of  this  Church"  are  to  be  con- 
demned. For  the  "suppression  of  all  that  is  irregular  and  unseemly,  the 
paternal  counsel  and  advice  of  the  Bishops"  was  declared  to  be  "suffi- 
cient." No  ritual  legislation  has  since  been  attempted  in  the  American 
Church,  and  trials  for  ritual  practices  involving  false  doctrine  have  been 
almost  unknown. 

'  Ex.  xxx,  8;  xxxvii,  29;  xl,  5;  Lev.  x,  I;  Deut.  xxxiii,  10,  and  other 
places. 

3  Ps.  cxli,  2. 


278  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


offered  on  heathen  altars,  or  in  impenitence  or  mere  for- 
mality, it  had  become  "an  abomination."  1  Nevertheless, 
Malachi,  speaking  in  the  Name  of  God,  foretells  the  time 
when  "in  every  place  incense,"  whether  as  typifying  prayer, 
or  else  the  material  symbol  itself,  "shall  be  offered  unto  His 
Name,"  even  among  the  heathen.2  It  is  noteworthy,  more- 
over, in  this  connection  that  it  was  "at  the  time  of  incense" 
in  the  Temple,  when  "the  whole  multitude  of  the  people 
were  praying,"  that  the  first  startling  message  proclaiming 
the  immediate  coming  of  Christ  came  to  Zacharias,  the 
priest,  the  father  of  the  Baptist,  when  "he  went  into  the 
Temple  of  the  Lord  to  burn  incense."  3 

With  such  examples  before  them  through  more  than 
a  thousand  years  it  would  seem  natural  that  the  first  Chris- 
tians would  not  hesitate  to  use  incense  as  a  symbol  of  prayer 
in  their  worship.  It  was  certainly  much  in  their  thoughts. 
S.  John  in  his  vision  of  heavenly  things  tells  of  an  angel 
"having  a  golden  censer,  offering  much  incense  with  the 
prayers  of  all  saints  upon  the  golden  altar  which  is  before 
the  throne,"  4  and  some  have  seen  in  this  a  suggestion  that 
the  aged  Apostle  took  his  imagery  from  the  custom  of  the 
Church  in  his  own  day.  But  this  does  not  seem  at  all  prob- 
able considering  the  condition  of  the  Christians  under  perse- 
cution, compelled  often  to  worship  in  secret,  where  the  use 
of  incense  would  at  once  expose  them  to  danger.  Duchesne 
is  of  opinion  that  as  late  as  the  ninth  century  "the  portable 
censer  was  used  at  Rome  only  in  processions,"  the  route 
being  thus  "made  sweet-smelling  by  incense."  "As  for 
censing  the  altar,"  he  adds,  "or  the  church,  or  the  clergy,  or 

1  Is.  i,  13;  Jer.  xi,  17;  xlviii,  35. 
*  Mai.  i,  11. 

3  S.  Luke  i,  5,  sq. 

4  Rev.  viii,  3. 


ORNAMENTS  OF  THE  CHURCH  tfc  279 


congregation,  such  a  thing  is  never  mentioned"  in  the  liturgi- 
cal books  of  that  day.1 

However  this  may  be,  we  know  that  the  custom  prevailed 
both  in  the  Eastern  and  the  Western  Church  after  the  ninth 
century,  and  still  prevails.  "There  is  reason  to  think  that 
[in  England^]  it  was  in  practice  burnt  only  on  high  festivals, 
down  to  the  period  of  the  Reformation."  2  Associated  as  it 
was  with  solitary  Eucharists,  and  doubtless  overdone  at 
other  times,  it  was  largely  given  up,  though  not  forbidden, 
at  the  Reformation  in  England.  At  the  same  time  it  should 
be  remembered  that  in  itself  it  is  as  free  from  false  doctrinal 
significance  as  sweet-smelling  flowers,  or  the  fragrant  rose- 
mary once  scattered  on  the  chancel  floor,  or  the  box  or  balsam 
for  decoration  of  the  church  at  Christmas.  It  was  doubtless 
in  use  in  many  or  most  of  the  parish  churches  and  cathedrals 
in  "the  Second  Year  of  the  Reign  of  King  Edward  the  Sixth", 
and  as  late  as  1662,  in  spite  of  the  Puritan  persecution  of 
the  previous  years,  incense  was  used  in  the  cathedrals  of 
Durham  and  Ely  as  well  as  in  other  places.3  Neither  the 
English  nor  the  American  Church,  since  the  Reformation, 
has  formally  either  authorized  or  forbidden  the  ritual  use 
of  incense,  though  it  is  undoubtedly  within  the  scope  of  their 
authority  to  do  so. 

The  two  Eucharistic  Lights  probably  owe  their  origin 
to  necessity  in  the  first  instance,  and  came  to  have  a  sym- 
bolical meaning  attached  to  them  later,  as  representing 
Christ  as  the  Light  of  the  World,  or  else  as  symbolizing  His 

1  Christian  Worship,  p.  163,  note.  Compare  Bingham,  Ant.  VIII,  vi 
21,  and  Burbidge,  Lit.  and  Off.,  p.  94,  note. 

2  Scudamore,  pp.  142-156. 

8  See  Wakeman,  His.  Ch.  Eng.,  p.  404;  Baring-Gould,  Ch.  Revival,  p.  37. 
Herbert's  Country  Parson  sees  that  the  church  at  great  festivals  is 
"perfumed  with  incense." 


28o   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


two  Natures  as  God  and  Man.  Equally  with  flowers,  they 
are  devoid  of  all  doctrinal  significance,  and  in  the  judgment 
of  a  purely  ecclesiastical  court,  namely  that  of  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury  (Benson)  in  the  trial  of  Bishop  King 
of  Lincoln  in  1890,  the  two  altar  lights  were  pronounced 
legal. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 


The  Baptismal  Offices 

"  Where  is  it  mothers  learn  their  love? 
In  every  Church  a  fountain  springs, 
O'er  which  the  Eternal  Dove 
Hovers  on  softest  wings. 

"  What  sparkles  in  that  lucid  flood 
Is  watery  by  gross  mortals  eyed: 
But  seen  by  faith,  'tis  blood 

Out  of  a  dear  Friend's  side."  —  Keble. 


>HE  concluding  portion  of  the  Prayer  Book  represents 


1  what  were  known  in  the  mediaeval  period  of  the 
English  Church  as  the  Manual  and  the  Pontifical.  The 
Manual  contained  the  Occasional  Offices  used  by  Parish 
Priests,  and  the  Pontifical  those  pertaining  to  the  Bishop. 

The  administration  of  Holy  Baptism  to  Infants  accord- 
ing to  the  Sarum  Use  had  become  a  very  complicated  affair. 
The  water  was  consecrated  beforehand  at  a  special  service, 
with  many  ceremonies,  including  a  Litany,  and  the  addition 
of  wax  and  oil,  and  the  font  was  not  changed  as  long  as  the 
water  remained  pure  and  clean.  The  ceremonies  at  the 
Baptism  itself  included  the  placing  of  salt  in  the  mouth  of 
the  child,  signing  with  the  Cross,  prayers  for  the  exorcism 
of  evil  spirits,  the  recitation  of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  "Hail 
Mary,"  and  the  Creed.  All  this  was  done  at  the  Church 
door.  At  the  font  the  child  was  anointed  with  oil  (type  of 
the  Holy  Spirit),  then  baptized,  clothed  in  a  chrisom,  or 
white  baptismal  robe,  and  a  lighted  taper  placed  in  its  hand, 


282   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


in  imitation  of  the  Wise  Virgins  going  forth  to  meet  their 
Lord.  If  the  Bishop  was  present,  the  child  was  at  once 
confirmed. 

These  ceremonies  had  become  so  elaborate  that  in  the 
popular  mind  they  obscured  the  act  of  Baptism  itself,  of 
which  the  only  essential  part  is  that  ordained  by  our  Lord, 
namely,  the  application  of  water  in  the  Name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.1  In  the  First  Re- 
formed Book  (1549)  the  only  non-essential  ceremonies  re- 
tained were  the  benediction  of  the  water  (to  be  "changed 
every  month  once  at  the  least"),  the  sign  of  the  Cross,  the 
anointing  of  the  head,  and  the  use  of  "the  white  vesture, 
commonly  called  the  Crisome."  This  last  was  to  be  put 
upon  the  child  with  these  words:  —  "Take  this  white  vesture 
for  a  token  of  the  innocency  which,  by  God's  grace  in  the 
holy  Sacrament  of  Baptism,  is  given  unto  thee:  and  for  a 
sign  whereby  thou  art  admonished,  so  long  as  thou  shalt 
live,  to  give  thyself  to  innocency  of  living,  that,  after  this 
transitory  life,  thou  mayest  be  partaker  of  the  life  ever- 
lasting." In  the  act  of  baptizing  the  Priest  was  required  to 
dip  the  child  in  the  water  thrice:  "First,  dipping  the  right 
side;  second,  the  left  side;  the  third  time  dipping  the  face 
toward  the  Font:  so  it  be  discreetly  and  warily  done;  say- 
ing, etc."  "And  if  the  child  be  weak,  it  shall  suffice  to  pour 
water  upon  it,  saying,  etc."2 

In  later  revisions  the  only  non-essential  ceremonies  re- 
tained were  the  benediction  of  the  water  at  every 
Baptism,  and  the  signing  of  the  Cross  upon  the  forehead. 
The  former  was  omitted  in  1552  on  the  objection  of  Bucer, 
a  foreigner,  who  had  been  made  Regius  Professor  of  Divinity 

1  S.  John  iii,  5;  S.  Matt,  xxviii,  19. 

2  Concerning  the  wisdom  of  omitting  these  "adventitious  ceremonies," 
see  Sadler,  Cb.  Doc,  etc.,  p.  115  note. 


THE  BAPTISMAL  OFFICES  283 


at  Cambridge,1  but  it  was  restored  in  1662,  being  taken 
from  its  former  place  at  the  end  of  the  Office  for  Private 
Baptism  in  the  First  Book,  and  made  part  of  the  Public 
Office.  Both  of  these  are  so  fitting  to  such  an  august  Sacra- 
ment as  that  which  admits  one  to  "the  Kingdom  of  God,"  2 
and  being  "neither  dark  nor  dumb  ceremonies,  but  so  set 
forth  that  every  man  may  understand  what  they  do  mean, 
and  to  what  use  they  do  serve,"  3  that  one  can  only  wonder 
at  the  narrowness  and  perversity  of  those  Puritans  who 
objected  to  them. 

Concerning  the  use  of  the  sign  of  the  Cross  in  Baptism  the 
English  Book,  in  the  last  rubric  of  the  Public  Office,  refers 
to  the  30th  Canon  of  1604  for  "the  just  reasons  for  the 
retaining  of  it."  Among  these  are  the  following:  —  "The 
honour  and  dignity  of  the  name  of  the  Cross  begat  a  reverend 
estimation  even  in  the  Apostles'  times  (for  aught  that  is 
known  to  the  contrary)  of  the  sign  of  the  Cross,  which  the 
Christians  shortly  after  used  in  all  their  actions;  thereby 
making  an  outward  show  and  profession  even  to  the  astonish- 
ment of  the  Jews,  that  they  were  not  ashamed  to  acknowledge 
Him  for  their  Lord  and  Saviour  who  died  for  them  upon  the 
Cross."  "It  must  be  confessed,"  the  Canon  adds,  "that 
in  process  of  time  the  sign  of  the  Cross  was  greatly  abused 
in  the  Church  of  Rome.  .  .  .  But  the  abuse  of  a  thing  doth 
not  take  away  the  lawful  use  of  it.  Nay,  so  far  was  it 
from  the  purpose  of  the  Church  of  England  to  forsake 

1  Bucer  was  one  of  eight  Lutheran  divines  who  gave  Philip  of  Hesse 
a  dispensation  to  commit  bigamy,  requesting  him,  however,  to  conceal  his 
second  marriage.  See  Hare's  Mission  of  the  Comforter,  p.  834,  and  Mozley's 
Essays  1,  401-404. 

2  S.  John  iii,  5. 

3  Present  English  Prayer  Book,  Of  Ceremonies.  Compare  Rev.  vii,  3; 
xiv,  1;  Gal.  vi,  14. 


284   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


and  reject  the  Churches  of  Italy,  France,  Spain,  Germany, 
or  any  such  like  Churches,  in  all  things  which  they  held 
and  practised,  that  it  doth  with  reverence  retain  these 
ceremonies." 1 

A  proper  reverence  suggests  that  the  water,  after  use  in 
Holy  Baptism,  should  be  emptied,  and  not  used  for  any  other 
purpose. 

The  first  prayer  in  the  Office  is  found  in  substance  in  the 
revised  service  of  Hermann,  Archbishop  of  Cologne.  The 
second  is  a  translation  from  that  in  the  old  Sarum  Office. 
The  Gospel  in  the  old  Office  (Christ  blessing  little  children) 
was  taken  from  S.  Matthew  (xix).  In  the  revised  Office 
the  more  extended  and  more  touching  account  of  the  same 
event  was  taken  from  S.  Mark  (x).  Only  two  sponsors  were 
required  in  the  old  Service;  three  are  required  in  the  new. 
The  American  Book  has  the  same  rule  but  adds,  "when  they 
can  be  had,"  and  provides  that  "Parents  shall  be  admitted 
as  Sponsors,  if  it  be  desired." 

The  beautiful  address  to  the  Sponsors,  "Beloved,  ye 
hear,  etc,"  and  the  prayer,  and  address  following,  were  com- 
posed in  1549,  being  framed  on  a  similar  portion  of  the  revised 
Service  of  Archbishop  Hermann.  The  first  three  questions 
to  the  Sponsors  are  taken,  with  slight  change,  from  the  old 
Use  of  Sarum,  and  are  identical  with  those  in  the  Roman 
Service  of  Gelasius  and  Gregory  in  the  fifth  and  sixth  cen- 
turies. The  fourth,  "Wilt  thou  then  obediently  keep,  etc.," 
was  added  in  1662.  We  have  strong  evidence  in  the  New 
Testament  that  some  such  form  of  interrogation  always 

1  Compare  the  Puritan  objection  to  bowing  at  the  Name  of  Jesus. 
It  was  a  lingering  Puritanism  that  caused  the  American  Church  in  1789 
to  allow  the  sign  of  the  Cross  in  Baptism  to  be  omitted  if  so  desired, 
"although  the  Church  knoweth  no  worthy  cause  of  scruple  concerning 
the  same." 


THE  BAPTISMAL  OFFICES  285 


preceded  Baptism.  See  Acts  viii,  37;  I  Tim.  vi,  12;  1  Pet. 
iii,  21. 1 

The  four  short  prayers  preceding  the  Prayer  of  benediction 
of  the  water  are  framed  on  similar  prayers  in  the  Gallican 
Ritual  for  Holy  Baptism.  They  resemble  also  the  Litany 
which  begins  the  Eastern  Baptismal  Office.2 

As  to  the  Method  of  Baptizing  it  is  important  to  note 
that  the  Church  has  always  recognized  two  ways  of  adminis- 
tering the  Sacrament,  namely,  "dipping  in  the  water,"  and 
"pouring  water  upon"  the  person.3  Though  total  immersion 
of  the  body,  as  a  ceremonial  or  ritual  act,  was  a  very  ancient 
custom,  and  still  continues  in  many  parts  of  the  Church 
Catholic,  especially  in  the  East,  and  in  warm  countries,  it 
has  never  been  regarded  as  essential.  "Sacraments  are 
means  or  instruments,  and  not  mere  figures.  They  depend, 
therefore,  for  their  efficacy,  not  on  exactness  of  likeness,  or 
on  quantity  of  matter,  but  on  God's  power  and  promise  in 
the  use  of  appointed  means.  A  basin  serves  as  well  as  a 
river;  one  crumb  of  bread  and  one  drop  of  wine  are  as 
efficacious  as  a  hundred  loaves  and  a  whole  vintage.  Were 
this  not  so,  the  Holy  Communion  ought  to  be  made  a  meal 
for  supplying  the  body,  for  in  proportion  as  it  did  so,  it  would 
be  an  exact  figure  of  satisfying  the  soul."  4    "In  fact,  total 

1  The  American  Book  does  not  require  the  recitation  of  the  Creed  in 
the  second  question,  but  asks,  "Dost  thou  believe  all  the  articles  of  the 
Christian  Faith,  as  contained  in  the  Apostles'  Creed?" 

2  See  Blunt,  Ann.  Pr.  Bk.y  pp.  224,  225. 

3  The  American  Prayer  Book,  in  the  last  rubric  of  the  Office  for  the 
"Baptism  of  those  of  Riper  Years,"  uses  also  the  word  "immersion." 
"Sprinkling"  does  not  occur  in  any  Prayer  Book  of  the  English-speaking 
Church. 

4  The  Gospel  in  the  Church,  by  the  Author,  pp.  263,  264.  See  S.  John 
xiii,  10.  This  is  a  saying  of  our  Lord  that  is  applicable  to  all  sacra- 
mental acts. 


286   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


immersion  of  the  body  would  seem  to  have  been  an  impossi- 
bility on  the  Day  of  Pentecost.  Three  thousand  persons 
were  baptized  on  that  day,  not  by  a  river  side,  but  on  a  steep 
hill  in  the  heart  of  a  large  city,  where  the  religion  of  Christ 
was  hated  by  those  in  power,  and  the  Lord  Himself  had  been 
publicly  crucified  a  few  days  before."  1 

Another  reason  for  not  confining  the  method  of  baptizing 
to  immersion  is  that  the  word  translated  baptize  (Ba7rrt^co, 
baptizo)  does  not  necessarily  mean  to  dip,  or  plunge  under. 
In  the  following  passages,  where  the  word  is  translated 
"wash,"  namely,  S.  Mark  vii,  4,  and  S.  Luke  xi,  38,  it  plainly 
does  not  mean  to  immerse.  Moreover,  the  account  of  our 
Lord's  Baptism  in  the  Jordan,2  and  the  rude  sculptures 
of  the  second  century  in  the  Catacombs,  seem  to  agree  in 
representing  our  Lord  and  the  Baptist  as  standing  in  the 
water,  and  S.  John  pouring  water  on  His  head.  The  prom- 
ised "Baptism  with  the  Holy  Ghost"  is  also  described  as  a 
"pouring-out,"  and  not  an  immersion.3 

It  is  therefore  fully  within  the  right  of  any  candidate  for 
Holy  Baptism  to  demand  for  himself  or  for  his  child  that  the 
Sacrament  should  be  administered  by  dipping,  that  is,  by 
immersion,  as  the  Church  provides.  It  would,  moreover, 
prove  to  be  a  wholesome  custom,  as  meeting  the  contention 
of  the  modern  Baptists,  if  a  Baptistery  for  this  purpose  should 
be  constructed  in  every  large  church,  or  cathedral,  at  the 
least.4   In  England  in  the  sixteenth  century  immersion  was 

1  The  Gospel  in  the  Churchy  p.  262.  Compare  the  Baptism  of  the  jailer 
and  his  family  at  Philippi  (Acts  xvi,  33). 

2  S.  Matt,  iii,  16.     *  Joel  ii,  28,  29;  S.  Matt,  iii,  11;  Acts  ii,  16;  x,  45. 

4  It  is  noteworthy  that  Archbishop  Benson  had  such  a  Baptistery  built 
in  the  parish  church  of  Lambeth.  The  writer  was  glad  to  have  the  oppor- 
tunity, some  years  ago,  of  exemplifying  publicly  the  Church's  rule,  in 
compliance  with  the  request  of  a  man  brought  up  among  Baptists,  by 
baptizing  him  with  trine  immersion  in  the  Mohawk  river. 


THE  BAPTISMAL  OFFICES  287 


still  the  custom  as  well  as  the  law.  But  when  whole  nations 
had  become  Christian,  "and  rarely  any  were  offered  to  the 
fonts  but  infants,  whose  tender  bodies  would  not  well  endure 
it,  this  custom  in  the  Western  Church  especially  was  dis- 
continued, and  aspersion  [that  is,  pouring]  only  used."  1 

The  Ministrant  of  Baptism  differs  from  that  of  the  other 
great  Sacrament  in  that  he  is  not  necessarily  a  Priest.  The 
evident  reason  for  this  is  that  Baptism  is  the  Sacrament 
only  of  initiation  into  the  Church,  and  that  it  requires  for 
its  completion  the  Laying  on  of  the  Hands  of  the  Bishop 
in  Confirmation.  In  the  "Ordering  of  Deacons"  it  is  declared 
that  "It  appertaineth  to  the  office  of  a  Deacon  ...  in  the 
absence  of  the  Priest  to  baptize  infants."  In  the  days  of 
the  first  Apostles,  to  baptize  was  one  of  the  functions  of 
Deacons,  as  seen  in  the  case  of  Philip.2 

Even  baptism  by  a  layman  in  case  of  emergency,  provided 
it  has  been  done  with  water  in  the  Name  of  the  Holy  Trinity, 
was  recognized  in  the  early  Church  as  valid,  though  irregular. 
This  was  the  view  held  by  Tertullian  in  the  third  century, 
and  by  S.  Augustine  in  the  fourth.3  Concerning  this  Hooker 
makes  the  emphatic  statement,  "Yea  'Baptism  by  any  man 
in  case  of  necessity'  was  the  voice  of  the  whole  world  hereto- 
fore." 4  This  was  the  rule  laid  down  in  the  ancient  Sarum 
Office,  and  it  has  never  been  reversed  in  the  various  revisions. 
As  further  proof  of  this  it  is  pointed  out  that  "although  there 
were  supposed  to  be  about  300,000  persons  in  England  who 
had  been  baptized  by  laymen  [that  is,  by  Puritan  minis- 
ters who  had  not  received  Holy  Orders]  at  the  time  when 
the  clergy  were  restored  to  their  duties  in  1661,  no  public 

1  L'Estrange,  Alliance  of  the  Divine  Offices,  p.  365. 
1  Acts  viii,  12,  38. 

8  Ter.  de  Bapt.,  xvii;  Aug.  de  Bapt.,  vii,  102;  cont.  Parmen.,  ii,  13. 
4  Ecc.  Pol.  V.  lvi,  3.    See  also  Bingham,  Antiq.  xvi.  i.  4. 


288   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


provision  was  made  by  the  Church  for  rebaptizing  them, 
nor  does  it  appear  that  any  doubt  whatever  was  thrown  upon 
the  validity  of  their  baptism  by  those  who  revised  our 
Offices."1 

The  Address  and  Prayers  following  leave  us  in  no 
doubt  as  to  what  the  Church  holds  in  regard  to  the  effect 
of  Baptism.  These  were  added  in  the  Second  Prayer  Book, 
concerning  which  Canon  Bright  has  said,  "We  generally 
associate  the  revision  of  1552  with  such  changes  as  it  wrought 
in  our  Sacramental  services.  It  is  well  to  remember  that,  if 
it  took  away  much,  it  gave  us  a  new  and  emphatic  assertion 
of  the  regeneration  of  baptized  infants."  2  Regeneration 
means  literally  a  "new  birth,"  and  is  taken  from  Tit.  iii,  5 
("through  the  washing  of  regeneration,"  Sid  \ovrpov 
waXiyyeveaias),  where  S.  Paul  has  in  mind  our  Lord's  words 
concerning  Baptism  in  S.  John  iii,  5.  Though  the  Puritans, 
following  Calvin,  persisted  in  regarding  regeneration,  or 
the  new  birth,  and  conversion  as  convertible  terms,  the 
Church  has  kept  faithfully  to  the  teaching  of  Holy  Scripture, 
and  of  the  Church  Catholic  through  all  her  history,  that  the 
two  things  are  wholly  distinct.  The  new  birth,  like  natural 
birth,  is  "the  gift  of  God,"  3  which  maybe  abused  or  forfeited, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  Prodigal,  yet  is  still  "without  repentance" 
on  God's  part.  Conversion  is  man's  work,  under  God, 
whereby  the  Prodigal  "comes  to  himself,"  and  "converts," 
that  is,  turns  his  footsteps  homeward  to  his  Father.4 

1  Blunt,  Ann.  Bk.  Comm.  Pr.,  p.  213. 

2  Ancient  Collects,  p.  230,  note. 
s  Rom.  xi,  29. 

4  S.  Luke  xv,  18;  and  comp.  Is.  vi,  10.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  Greek 
word  for  convert  (o-rpe^oj),  even  in  the  passive  voice,  has  always  a  reflexive 
meaning  ("turn  one's  self"),  and  is  so  translated  in  the  Rev.  Ver.  in  S. 
Matt,  xiii,  15;  xviii,  3;  S.  Mark  iv,  12;  S.  Luke  xxii,  32;  Acts  iii,  19,  and 
elsewhere. 


THE  BAPTISMAL  OFFICES  289 

That  is  the  very  first  thought  presented  to  every  Christian 
child  in  the  Church  Catechism  as  the  foundation  of  all  its 
duty,  and  the  encouragement  of  all  its  efforts.  It  is  taught 
to  say,  "In  Baptism  I  was  made  a  member  of  Christ,  the 
child  of  God,  and  an  inheritor  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  In 
spite  of  many  shortcomings  it  is  God's  "dear  child."1  When 
the  Eternal  Son  of  God  came  into  the  world,  "He  took  not 
on  Him  the  nature  of  angels,"  2  that  is,  He  did  not  come  as 
a  mere  spiritual  being.  He  "was  made  flesh."3  He  took  the 
body,  soul,  and  spirit  of  man,  and  one  purpose  of  this  was 
that  He  might  bring  every  man  who  would  into  union  with 
Himself  in  body  as  well  as  in  soul.  Holy  Baptism  is  the 
means  by  which  this  union  with  Christ  is  brought  about, 
and  we  are  made  "members  of  His  body,  of  His  flesh,  and  of 
His  bones,"  "partakers  of  the  Divine  Nature."  4  And  if 
we  are  thus  made  "members  of  Christ,"  we  also  must  be 
"the  children  of  God."  We  are  regenerated,  "born  again" 
into  a  new  family,  the  family  and  "kingdom  of  God."  5 
Here  is  our  highest  incentive  to  holy  living.  Here  also  is 
our  warning  against  falling  away.  And  so,  Baptism  has 
been  called  "the  Sacrament  of  responsibility,"  for  though 
our  "names  are  now  written  in  heaven,"  nevertheless,  they 
may  be  "blotted  out  of  the  book  of  life"  6  by  our  unfaith- 
fulness, unless  we  repent  and  amend. 

The  Right  of  Infants  to  be  Baptized  was  never  called 
in  question  in  the  Church  until  the  rise  of  the  Anabaptist 
sect  in  the  sixteenth  century.  All  Jewish  children,  including 
John  the  Baptist,  the  Apostles,  and  our  Lord  Himself,  were 
made  members  of  the  Church  of  Israel  by  divine  command 


1  Eph.  v,  1. 

*  Heb.  ii,  16. 

•  S.  John  i,  14. 


4  Eph.  v,  30;  2  Pet.  i,  4. 

6  S.  John  iii,  5. 

6  Rev.  xii,  23;  iii,  5. 


29o   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fe?  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


when  eight  days  old.1  It  could,  therefore,  never  have  occurred 
to  the  Apostles,  whom  Christ  had  commanded  to  "feed 
His  Lambs"  as  well  as  "His  sheep,"  2  that  the  Church  of 
Him  who  had  bidden  the  children  to  come  to  Him  for  bless- 
ing, ignorant  though  they  were  of  what  He  was  doing  to 
them,  could  have  any  less  blessing  for  infant  children  than 
that  older  Church  which  was  its  shadow. 

This  fact  of  Baptism  being  the  successor  and  the  substi- 
tute of  Circumcision,  as  the  Holy  Communion  was  the  suc- 
cessor and  the  substitute  of  the  Passover,  is  put  beyond  a 
question  when  we  find  S.  Paul  speaking  of  Baptism  as  "the 
circumcision  of  Christ,"  or  Christian  circumcision.3  S.  Peter 
also,  in  his  sermon  on  the  very  first  day  of  the  Christian 
Church,  tells  the  people  that  "the  promise  of  remission  of 
sins,"  and  "the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  by  means  of  their 
baptism,  are  for  their  "children"  as  well  as  for  themselves.4 
So  too,  our  Lord's  final  command  to  His  Apostles  to  "make 
disciples  of  all  nations,  baptizing  them,  etc,"  5  necessarily 
included,  not  only  men  and  women,  but  children  and  so  we 
find  the  Apostles  baptizing  whole  "households,"  where  it 
would  be  unreasonable  in  the  extreme  to  suppose  that  they 
contained  no  children.6 

Moreover,  leaving  Holy  Scripture,  we  find  the  earliest 
Christian  writers  in  the  first  four  centuries,  Justin  Martyr, 
Irenaeus,  Clement  of  Alexandria,  Tertullian,  Cyprian, 
Augustine,  Jerome,  and  others,  all  testifying  to  the  custom 

1  Gen.  xvii,  1-15;  S.  Luke  i,  59;  ii,  21.         3  Col.  ii,  11,  12. 

2  S.  John  xxi,  15.  4  Acts,  ii,  38,  39. 
6  S.  Matt,  xxviii,  19,  20,  Rev.  Ver. 

6  Acts  xvi,  15,  33;  1  Cor.  i,  16.  Wall,  in  his  treatise  on  Infant  Bap- 
tism, Intro.,  p.  21,  in  further  proof  that  the  Apostles  could  have  had  no 
doubt  as  to  our  Lord's  intention,  points  out  that  the  Jews,  when  they 
received  proselytes  from  the  heathen,  in  preparation  for  their  circumcision, 
baptized  not  only  the  adults,  but  even  the  infant  children. 


THE  BAPTISMAL  OFFICES  291 


of  the  Church  in  their  day  as  to  baptizing  infant  children, 
and  taking  the  pledge  of  sponsors  in  their  name  for  their 
future  training  in  the  Christian  faith.1 

The  proclamation  of  the  full  reception  of  the  child  by  its 
baptism  "into  the  congregation  of  Christ's  flock,"  and  the 
touching  words  accompanying  the  sign  of  the  Cross,  are 
peculiar  to  the  English  Book,  having  been  substituted  in 
1552  for  the  bestowing  of  the  crisome,  and  the  anointing, 
which  were  prescribed  here  in  the  Book  of  1549.  The  Address 
to  the  congregation,  "Seeing  now,  etc.,"  with  its  unequivocal 
statement  that  "this  child  is  regenerate,"  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
and  the  Thanksgiving  following,  were  also  added  in  1552. 
In  the  Prayer  Book  of  1549  the  requirement  to  "bring  this 
child  to  the  Bishop  to  be  confirmed"  was  only  in  the  form 
of  a  rubric.  In  1662  it  was  changed  to  its  present  form  as 
an  address,  doubtless  because  many  of  the  clergy  had  failed 
to  bring  the  duty  home  to  the  parents  and  godparents.2 

The  Office  for  Private  Baptism  of  Children  differs  only 
from  that  for  Public  Baptism  in  the  permission  to  omit  all 
that  is  not  essential  to  the  valid  administration  of  the  Sacra- 
ment. It  provides,  however,  that  the  People  are  to  be  "often 
admonished  that  they  defer  not  the  Baptism  of  their  Children 
longer  than  the  first  or  second  Sunday,  etc.,  unless  upon  a 

1  See  Wall,  Infant  Baptism,  chaps,  i-xv. 

1  The  English  Office  declares  that  children  baptized  and  "dying  be- 
fore they  commit  actual  sin,  are  undoubtedly  saved."  The  spirit  of  the 
Puritans'  opposition  to  the  Prayer  Book  is  well  illustrated  by  Baxter's 
declaration  in  regard  to  this  rubric  in  1662:  "If  only  that  rubric  were  con- 
tinued, yet  they  could  not  conform"  (Proctor  and  Frere,  p.  20).  When 
an  eccentric  American  Priest,  on  the  other  hand,  was  once  asked  the  ques- 
tion concerning  the  condition  of  unbaptized  children,  he  replied  that  while 
the  Church  had  made  no  pronouncement  on  the  subject,  his  own  private 
opinion  was  that  they  would  be  saved,  but  that  he  had  grave  doubts  about 
the  future  condition  of  their  parents! 


292   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


great  and  reasonable  cause."  And  the  wonder  is  that  Chris- 
tian parents  should  so  often  have  so  little  regard  for  their 
children's  being  "brought  unto  Christ,"  and  into  union  with 
Him,  that,  from  mere  carelessness  or  indifference,  they  post- 
pone their  Baptism  for  months,  or  even  years. 

Another  admonition  which  the  Church  requires  her  clergy 
to  give  is  that  children  should  not  be  baptized  at  home  "with- 
out great  cause  and  necessity,"  by  which  is  meant  primarily 
and  chiefly  the  dangerous  illness  of  the  child,  though  there 
may  also  be  other  reasons  which  are  justifiable,  especially  in 
missionary  lands.  Mere  convenience,  however,  or  the  desire 
to  make  the  event  a  social  function  cannot  be  one.  There 
are  strong  reasons  for  this  insistence  on  the  Sacrament  being 
administered  ordinarily  in  the  church.  First  there  is  the 
great  dignity  of  the  Sacrament,  which  must  needs  be  guarded 
by  the  most  reverent  surroundings  possible;  again  there  is 
the  blessing  which  must  come  from  the  united  prayers  of  a 
congregation  on  the  child's  behalf;  and  finally  there  is  the 
blessing  which  the  people  themselves  may  receive  by  being 
constantly  reminded  of  the  privileges  and  responsibilities 
which  their  own  Baptism  bestowed  and  imposed  upon  them. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  phrase  "lawful  minister"  is 
used  throughout  the  service.  This  does  not  necessarily 
imply  that,  in  case  of  extreme  necessity,  Baptism  by  a  lay 
person  would  not  be  permissible.  It  is  only  meant  to  show 
that  the  Church  does  not,  under  ordinary  circumstances, 
countenance  any  departure  from  the  divine  law  which  makes 
her  ordained  ministers  the  "stewards  of  the  mysteries  of 
God."  1 

Though  "the  Child  so  baptized  is  lawfully  and  sufficiently 
baptized,  and  ought  not  to  be  baptized  again,  .  .  .  never- 
theless," the  Church  declares,  "if  the  Child  do  afterward 


1  i  Cor.  iv,  i. 


THE  BAPTISMAL  OFFICES  293 


live,  it  is  expedient  that  it  be  brought  into  the  Church,"  etc., 
but  only  for  the  purpose  of  public  certification  of  the  fact, 
and  for  the  saying  of  the  remaining  portion  of  the  service  for 
Public  Baptism  beginning  with  the  Gospel,  omitting  only  the 
act  of  Baptism  itself.1  In  case  of  uncertainty  as  to  whether 
a  Baptism  has  been  validly  administered,  and  "all  things 
done  as  they  ought  to  be,"  a  hypothetical  form  of  bap- 
tizing is  provided,  beginning,  "If  thou  art  not  already 
baptized,  etc." 

It  is  not  surprising  that  there  was  no  separate  Office  for 
the  Baptism  of  Adults  either  in  the  ancient  English  books, 
or  in  the  revised  Book  of  1549.  Ever  since  England  had 
ceased  to  be  a  heathen  country,  all  her  people  had  been 
baptized  in  infancy.  It  was  not  until  1662  that  the  Office 
for  "Baptism  of  Such  as  are  of  Riper  Tears"  was  added,  and 
the  reason  given  in  the  Preface  to  the  Prayer  Book  is,  first, 
"the  growth  of  Anabaptism,  through  the  licentiousness  of 
the  late  times  crept  in  amongst  us,"  which  had  "forbidden 
little  children  to  come"  to  Christ  in  the  very  way  of  His 
appointment;  and,  second,  the  extension  of  the  British 
Empire  in  the  colonies  or  "plantations"  of  the  New  World, 
where  the  Office  would  be  "always  useful  for  the  baptizing 
of  natives,  and  others  converted  to  the  faith."  It  was 
framed  by  a  committee  of  Bishops  and  other  Clergy  ap- 
pointed by  Convocation,  of  which  the  Bishop  of  Salisbury 
was  chairman. 

The  Office  differs  only  in  necessary  things  from  that  for 
Children;  a  different  Gospel,  and  appropriate  Exhortations. 

1  In  the  American  Book,  the  clause  of  the  certification  in  the  English 
Book,  beginning,  "Who  being  born  in  original  sin,  etc.,"  down  to  "ever- 
lasting life,"  is  changed  to  "Who  is  now  by  Baptism  incorporated  into  the 
Christian  Church;"  and  this,  together  with  what  follows,  is  added  to  the 
first  form  of  certification. 


294   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


The  catechumens,  as  they  were  called  in  the  early  Church, 
and  as  they  are  still  called  in  heathen  lands,  are  first  to  be 
"sufficiently  instructed  in  the  principles  of  the  Christian 
Religion,"  and  "exhorted  to  prepare  themselves  with  prayer 
and  fasting  [according  to  primitive  custom]  for  the  receiv- 
ing of  this  holy  Sacrament."  They  answer  the  questions  for 
themselves,  their  Godfathers  and  Godmothers  being  only 
"their  chosen  witnesses,"  whose  duty  it  is  to  remind  them 
of  their  "solemn  vow,  promise,  and  profession."  They  are 
also  to  be  confirmed  by  the  Bishop  "as  soon  as  conveniently 
may  be;  that  so  they  may  be  admitted  to  the  Holy  Com- 
munion." It  should  be  needless  to  say  that  any  one  who  is 
fitted  to  receive  the  Holy  Sacrament  of  Baptism  as  an  adult 
must  necessarily  be  fitted  to  receive  Confirmation,  and  the 
Holy  Communion,  though  some  special  preparation  may  be 
necessary  after  the  person  is  baptized. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 


The  Catechism 

"  Oh!  say  not,  dream  not,  heavenly  notes 
To  childish  ears  are  vain. 
That  the  young  mind  at  random  floats, 
And  cannot  reach  the  strain. 

"  Dim  or  unheard,  the  words  may  fall, 
And  yet  the  heaven-taught  mind 
May  learn  the  sacred  air,  and  all 
The  harmony  unwind"  —  Keble. 


"  Catechesis,  the  teaching  of  children  in  the  presence  of  their  elders  the  mysteries 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  is  the  wisest  of  Church  restorations'* 

—  Archbishop  Benson. 


HE  word  catechize  is  derived  from  the  Greek  word 


1  rjxect)  (echeo),  which  signifies  to  repeat,  like  an  echo. 
It  is  used  only  twice  in  the  New  Testament.  In  the  preface 
to  S.  Luke's  Gospel  he  tells  his  friend  Theophilus  that  his 
purpose  in  writing  is,  "that  thou  mightest  know  the  cer- 
tainty concerning  the  things  wherein  thou  hast  instructed 
(literally,  catechized)"  ;  or,  as  the  margin  has  it,  ."taught 
by  word  of  mouth."  1 

That  the  Jews  had  a  similar  method  of  instruction  seems 
to  be  illustrated  in  the  case  of  the  Child  Jesus  tarrying  behind 
in  Jerusalem,  and  "sitting  in  the  midst  of  the  doctors,  both 
hearing  them,  and  asking  them  questions."  2 

In  the  primitive  Church  a  person  preparing  for  Holy 
Baptism  was  called  for  this  reason  a  catechumen,  though  the 
instruction  was  by  no  means  confined  to  questioning.  In 

1  S.  Luke  i,  4,  Rev.  Ver.;  see  also  I  Cor.  xiv,  19,  where  "instruct"  is 
the  same  in  the  Greek. 
*  S.  Luke  ii,  46. 


296   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fe?  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


the  Church  of  Alexandria  in  Egypt,  founded  by  S.  Mark, 
there  was  a  famous  Catechetical  School,  so-called,  where 
the  teaching  of  the  elements  of  Christianity  seems  rather  to 
have  been  carried  on  by  means  of  lectures,  though  doubtless 
the  strict  catechetical  method  followed  this  instruction,  just 
as  it  does  today  in  our  schools  and  colleges  in  order  to  test 
and  deepen  the  effect  of  the  direct  teaching.  Clemens  (a.d. 
150-215),  one  of  the  celebrated  teachers  in  this  school, 
the  instructor  of  Origen,  has  left  us  a  series  of  his  Catechetical 
Lectures.  Cyril,  Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  while  still  a  Priest 
in  that  city,  has  given  us  a  similar  series  of  eighteen  lectures 
addressed  to  catechumens  before  their  baptism,  in  Lent, 
347  or  348,  followed  by  five  others  after  Easter,  in  preparation 
for  Holy  Communion.1 

S.  Augustine  also,  in  a  letter  to  a  young  Deacon,  Deogratias, 
in  the  year  400,  gives  us,  in  what  is  really  a  treatise  on  Cate- 
chizing, a  lifelike  account,  and  many  valuable  practical  hints, 
as  to  the  best  method  of  teaching  the  first  principles  of  the 
Christian  faith  and  life.  In  his  preface  to  this  book  he 
writes:  "You  have  told  me,  brother  Deogratias,  that  at 
Carthage,  where  you  are  a  Deacon,  persons  are  often  brought 
to  you  to  be  instructed  in  the  rudiments  of  the  Christian 
faith,  in  consequence  of  your  reputation  for  possessing  great 
resource  and  power  in  catechizing,  on  account  of  your  knowl- 
edge of  the  faith,  and  your  happy  way  of  expressing  yourself; 
but  that  you  yourself  always  experience  a  painful  difficulty 
in  deciding  how  to  set  forth  with  profit  to  your  hearers  that 
very  truth,  by  believing  which  we  are  Christians."  "Many 
a  modern  clergyman,"  writes  Canon  Liddon,  "has  shared 
the  perplexity  of  Deogratias,  and  has  wished,  perchance, 
that  he  had  an  Augustine  to  instruct  him  in  the  difficult  art 
of  catechizing  the  unlearned.   For  that  it  is  difficult,  —  more 

1  Cat.  Led.,  Oxford,  1838. 


THE  CATECHISM 


297 


difficult  to  most  men  than  effective  preaching,  —  no  one 
who  has  tried  his  hand  at  it  can  well  doubt."1 

It  was  to  aid  in  this  work  of  rudimentary  instruction  that 
the  Catechism  of  the  Prayer  Book  was  composed.  It  was 
not,  however,  something  wholly  new  in  England,  except  so 
far  as  the  interrogatory  method  was  employed  throughout. 
The  Creed,  Lord's  Prayer,  and  Ten  Commandments  formed 
the  core  round  which  it  was  constructed,  and  from  the  earliest 
period  of  English  history  we  find  injunctions  of  Bishops 
and  synods  requiring  the  clergy  to  teach  and  explain  these 
in  English  to  the  children  and  people  generally  committed 
to  their  care.  As  early  as  a.d.  740  Egbert,  Archbishop  of 
York,  directs  "that  every  Priest  do  with  great  exactness 
instil  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  the  Creed,  into  the  people 
committed  to  him,  and  shew  them  to  endeavour  after  the 
knowledge  of  the  whole  of  religion,  and  the  practice  of 
Christianity."  Two  centuries  later  a  canon  of  Aelfric,  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  enjoins  the  clergy  to  "speak  the 
sense  of  the  Gospel  to  the  people  in  English,  and  of  the  Pater 
Noster>  and  the  Creed  as  oft  as  he  can."  Similar  injunctions 
are  found  in  the  canons  of  many  diocesan  synods  throughout 
the  whole  mediaeval  period.2 

1  Dupanloup,  the  great  Bishop  of  Orleans,  probably  did  more  than  any 
other  man  in  the  nineteenth  century  to  keep  alive  the  Christian  faith  among 
the  people  of  France,  and  this  chiefly  by  his  marvellous  work  and  example 
as  a  catechist.  In  his  judgment  this  was  no  easy  matter.  "A  good  Cate- 
chetical Instruction,"  he  writes,  "demands  of  the  most  skilful  four,  five, 
or  six  hours  of  preparation.  I  have  sometimes  had  two  or  three  days  of 
continuous  work,  sometimes  a  whole  week,  in  preparation  for  certain  very 
difficult  or  very  special  Instructions"  (Ministry  of  Catechizing,  ii.  3.). 

2  See  Johnson's  English  Canons,  I.  pp.  186,  248,  398.  It  is  to  be  re- 
membered in  this  connection  that  for  a  long  period,  beginning  with  the 
Roman  occupation  in  the  first  century,  and  continuing  even  as  late  as  the 
fourteenth,  England  was  more  or  less  a  bilingual  country,  as  India  under 
the  British,  and  the  Philippines  and  Porto  Rico  under  the  United  States, 


298  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

It  is  important  to  note  the  great  practical  necessity  of 
such  a  summary  of  Christian  faith,  doctrine,  and  practice 
as  is  found  in  the  Church  Catechism,  especially  in  days 
when  a  different  method  of  instruction  of  the  young  is  being 
attempted.  According  to  the  mind  of  the  Church,  the  child 
is  not  directed  primarily  to  the  vast  store  of  history,  poetry, 
prophecy,  philosophy,  biography,  and  doctrine  contained 
in  the  Divine  Library  of  sixty-six  books,  the  religious  litera- 
ture of  a  nation,  written  in  more  than  one  language,  and 
which  we  know  today  as  "the  Bible,"  that  is,  "the  Book." 
The  remarkable  practical  wisdom  of  the  Church  is  seen  in 
her  setting  before  the  young  the  great  essential  truths, 
which  they  have  neither  time  nor  ability  to  discover  for 
themselves  in  the  Bible,  but  only  for  the  "certainty"  and 
illustration  of  which,  they  are  to  "search  the  Scriptures."1 
In  pursuing  this  course  she  is  only  exercising  her  divinely 
given  authority  to  "teach"  as  well  as  to  "preach"  or  pro- 
claim the  good  news  of  the  Gospel.  In  this  she  is  in  fact 
following  exactly  the  rule  expressed  by  S.  Luke  in  the  preface 
to  his  Gospel;  the  Church  to  teach,  the  Scripture  to  give 
"the  certainty." 

As  further  evidence  of  the  Church's  wisdom  we  can  point 
also  to  the  remarkable  brevity  of  the  Catechism,  containing 
as  it  does  only  twenty-two  questions  and  answers  in  addition 
to  the  Creed,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  the  Commandments.2 

are  today.  In  the  earlier  period  the  upper  classes  spoke  Latin,  and  after 
the  Norman  Conquest  French  was  the  ordinary  language  of  the  rulers 
for  several  centuries.  As  late  as  1362  "an  act  of  Parliament  was  passed 
enjoining  all  schoolmasters  to  teach  their  scholars  to  translate  into  English 
instead  of  into  French"  (Blunt,  Ann.  Pr.  Bk.y  xxiii.,  note). 

1  S.  John  v,  39. 

2  In  contrast  with  this  the  "Larger  Catechism"  adopted  by  the  Puritan 
Assembly  at  Westminster  in  1647,  like  those  of  the  Continental  Reformers, 
is  very  long.    It  contains  196  questions,  and  the  "Shorter  Catechism" 


THE  CATECHISM 


299 


In  the  first  revised  Prayer  Book  (1549)  the  Catechism  ended 
with  the  question  on  the  Lord's  Prayer.  The  latter  portion 
on  the  Sacraments  was  added  in  1604  after  the  Hampton 
Court  Conference,  and,  with  two  slight  verbal  emendations, 
was  afterwards  confirmed  by  Convocation  and  Parliament 
in  1662.  It  was  composed  by  Overall  then  Dean  of  S.  Paul's 
and  Prolocutor  of  Convocation,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Nor- 
wich (1618-19). 

Though  the  Catechism  is  so  admirable  as  it  is,  it  is  felt 
by  many  that  some  further  addition  is  needed  concerning 
the  nature  of  the  Church  and  the  Ministry.  To  meet  this 
need  in  the  spirit  of  the  earlier  portion,  the  following  questions 
and  answers,  chiefly  in  the  words  of  the  Prayer  Book  itself, 
and  without  any  change  or  addition  of  doctrine,  were  adopted 
by  the  Lower  House  of  the  Convocation  of  Canterbury  in 
1887.  Inasmuch,  however,  as  they  had  not  originated  in  the 
Upper  House,  a  privilege  claimed  by  the  Bishops  in  matters 
of  doctrine,  the  approval  of  that  House  was  withheld. 

Questions  and  Answers  on  the  Church, 
Supplementary  to  The  Catechism 

I.  What  meanest  thou  by  the  Church?  —  A.  I  mean 
the  Body  of  which  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Head,  and  of  which  I 
was  made  a  member  in  my  Baptism. 

II.  How  is  the  Church  described  in  the  Creeds?  —  A. 
It  is  described  as  One,  Holy,  Catholic,  and  Apostolic. 

III.  §>.  What  meanest  thou  by  each  of  these  words?  —  A. 
I  mean  that  the  Church  is  One,  as  being  One  Body  under  the 
One  Head;  Holy,  because  the  Holy  Spirit  dwells  in  it,  and 
sanctifies  its  Members;  Catholic,  because  it  is  for  all  nations 
and  all  times;  and  Apostolic,  because  it  continues  stedfastly 
in  the  Apostles'  doctrine  and  fellowship. 

has  no  less  than  107,  besides  the  Creed,  Lord's  Prayer,  and  Commandments. 
The  Roman  Catechism  of  the  Reforming  Council  of  Trent  (1545-63) 
is  a  formidable  volume  by  itself,  but  it  was  meant  for  the  instruction  of 
the  clergy,  and  not  for  children. 


3oo   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


IV.  We  learn  from  Holy  Scripture  that  in  the  Church 
the  evil  are  mingled  with  the  good.  Will  it  always  be  so?  — 
A.  No;  when  our  Lord  comes  again,  He  will  cast  the  evil 
out  of  His  kingdom;  will  make  His  faithful  servants  perfect 
both  in  body  and  soul;  and  will  present  His  whole  Church 
to  Himself  without  spot,  and  blameless. 

V.  What  is  the  Office  and  Work  of  the  Church  on 
earth  ?  —  A.  The  office  and  work  of  the  Church  on  earth  is 
to  maintain  and  teach  everywhere  the  true  Faith  of  Christ, 
and  to  be  His  instrument  for  conveying  Grace  to  men,  by 
the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

VI.  How  did  our  Lord  provide  for  the  government 
and  continuance  of  the  Church? — A.  He  gave  authority 
to  His  Apostles  to  rule  the  Church;  to  minister  His  Word 
and  Sacraments;  and  to  ordain  faithful  men  for  the  con- 
tinuance of  this  Ministry  until  His  coming  again. 

VII.  ^.  What  Orders  of  Ministers  have  there  been  in  the 
Church  from  the  Apostles'  time?  —  A.  Bishops,  Priests, 
and  Deacons. 

VIII.  6).  What  is  the  office  of  a  Bishop?  —  ^.  The  office 
of  a  Bishop  is  to  be  a  chief  Pastor  and  Ruler  of  the  Church; 
to  confer  Holy  Orders;  to  administer  Confirmation;  and  to 
take  the  chief  part  in  the  ministry  of  the  Word  and  Sacra- 
ments. 

IX.  What  is  the  office  of  a  Priest?  —  A.  The  office  of 
a  Priest  is  to  preach  the  Word  of  God;  to  baptize;  to  cele- 
brate the  Holy  Communion;  to  pronounce  Absolution  and 
Blessing  in  God's  Name;  and  to  feed  the  flock  committed 
by  the  Bishop  to  his  charge. 

X.  ^.  What  is  the  office  of  a  Deacon  ?  —  A.  The  office 
of  a  Deacon  is  to  assist  the  Priest  in  Divine  Service,  and 
specially  at  the  Holy  Communion;  to  baptize  infants  in  the 
absence  of  the  Priest;  to  catechize;  to  preach,  if  authorized 
by  the  Bishop;  and  to  search  for  the  sick  and  the  poor. 

XI.  What  is  required  of  members  of  the  Church?  — 
A.  To  endeavor,  by  God's  help,  to  fulfil  their  baptismal  vows; 
to  make  full  use  of  the  means  of  grace;  to  remain  stedfast 
in  the  communion  of  the  Church;  and  to  forward  the  work 
of  the  Church  at  home  and  abroad. 


THE  CATECHISM 


301 


XII.  §>.  Why  is  it  our  duty  to  belong  to  the  Church  of 
England? — A.  Because  the  Church  of  England  has  inherited 
and  retains  the  Doctrine  and  Ministry  of  the  One  Catholic 
and  Apostolic  Church,  and  is  that  part  of  the  Church  which 
has  been  settled  from  early  times  in  our  country. 

"N  or  M"  in  the  first  question  is  probably  the  usual 
abbreviation  of  the  Latin  words  Nomen  and  Nomina,  "Name 
or  Names."  The  translation  of  the  Commandments  both 
here  and  in  the  Eucharistic  Office  is  taken  from  the  "Great 
Bible"  of  1539.  It  had  become  so  familiar  to  the  people 
that,  together  with  the  Psalter  and  the  "Comfortable 
Words,"  it  was  not  changed  when  the  so-called  Authorized 
Version  was  made  in  161 1. 

A  Most  Important  but  much  Neglected  Rubric  re- 
quires that  "The  Curate  [that  is,  the  Priest  who  has  the  cure 
of  souls,  be  he  Rector,  Vicar,  or  'Minister,'  as  in  the  Ameri- 
can Book]  shall  diligently  upon  Sundays  and  Holy-days, 
after  the  second  Lesson  at  Evening  Prayer,  openly  in  the 
Church  instruct  and  examine  so  many  Children  of  his  Parish 
sent  unto  him,  as  he  shall  think  convenient,  in  some  part  of 
this  Catechism."  In  the  next  rubric  the  duty  of  sending 
the  children  is  definitely  laid  on  Fathers,  Mothers,  etc.  The 
Irish  and  the  American  Books  make  some  slight  verbal 
changes  here,  and  the  Irish  adds  concerning  the  Catechizing 
"openly  in  the  Church"  the  words,  "with  the  approval  of 
the  Ordinary,"  that  is,  the  Bishop  of  the  Diocese.  The 
American  Church  is  still  more  explicit,  having  further 
provided  by  canon  as  follows:  — 

"It  shall  be  the  duty  of  Ministers  of  this  Church  who  have 
charge  of  Parishes  or  Cures  to  be  diligent  in  instructing  the 
children  in  the  Catechism,  and  from  time  to  time  to  examine 
them  in  the  same  publicly  before  the  Congregation.  They 
shall  also,  by  stated  catechetical  lectures  and  instruction, 


3o2   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


inform  the  youth  and  others  in  the  Doctrines,  Polity,  History, 
and  Liturgy  of  the  Church." 1 

Concerning  this  "instruction  and  examination  openly  in 
the  Church"  it  is  plain  that,  as  the  present  writer  has  said 
elsewhere,  "Neither  the  law  of  our  Lord  nor  of  His  Church 
will  allow  any  priest  with  a  cure  of  souls  to  release  himself 
from  that  grave  responsibility  towards  the  children.  He 
cannot  even  plead  unfitness.  It  is  his  plain  duty  to  make 
himself  fit.  Sunday  School  teachers  and  officers  may  help 
him,  but  they  cannot  take  his  place.  By  his  ordination  vow, 
by  the  rubrics  and  canons  of  the  Church,  but  above  all  by 
the  express  command  of  our  Lord  Himself,  this  duty  of  teach- 
ing the  young  as  well  as  the  old  is  imperative.  Christ's  first 
command  to  His  Apostles  is  'Feed  My  lambs';  His  second, 
'Feed  My  sheep.'  But  our  Lord's  estimate  of  the  two  kinds 
of  work  is  seen  in  the  conditions  which  He  imposes  for  each. 
For  while  for  the  second  He  puts  the  question,  'Lovest  thou 
Me?'  for  the  first  He  asks,  'Lovest  thou  Me  more  than 
these?'  Surely  then  we  are  justified  in  claiming  for  the  art 
of  teaching  the  young  a  position  equal,  if  not  superior,  to  the 
art  of  preaching  to  their  elders."  2 

1  Canon  16,  Sec.  ii. 

2  The  Gospel  in  the  Church,  p.  x.  The  most  serious  defect  in  the  elabo- 
rate organization  of  the  modern  Sunday  School  is  the  failure  to  have  the 
children  take  part  with  their  elders  every  Sunday  in  the  regular  services 
of  the  Church,  and  to  acquire  the  use  of  the  Prayer  Book.  One  of  the 
saddest  sights  today  is  the  stream  of  young  people  on  Sunday  morning 
hastening  homeward  at  the  very  hour  when  the  actual  worship  of  the 
Church  is  about  to  begin.  It  seems  to  be  largely  forgotten  that  the 
greatest  and  most  enduring  influence  in  a  child's  life  is  that  acquired  by 
the  habit  of  church-going,  reverent  worship,  and  example.  Divine  Service, 
with  its  wealth  of  Psalm  and  Lesson,  Epistle  and  Gospel,  Creed,  and 
Sermon,  and  Sacrament,  provides  the  most  effective  teaching,  not  merely 
for  the  brief  two  hundred  and  fifty  hours  of  the  average  child's  life  in 
Sunday  School,  but  for  the  whole  life  in  the  Church. 


CHAPTER  XXX 


Confirmation 

"  Draw,  Holy  Ghost,  Thy  seven-fold  veil 
Between  us  and  the  fires  of  youth; 
Breathe,  Holy  Ghost,  Thy  freshening  gale. 
Our  fevered  brow  in  age  to  soothe. 

"And  oft  as  sin  and  sorrow  tire, 

The  hallowed  hour  do  Thou  renew, 
When  beckoned  up  the  awful  choir 

By  pastoral  hands,  toward  Thee  we  drew."  —  Keble. 

CONFIRMATION  is  not  one  of  the  "Sacraments 
generally  \_generaliter>  that  is,  universally]  necessary 
to  salvation,"  nevertheless,  the  teaching  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment (as  we  shall  see  later),  combined  with  the  universal  cus- 
tom of  the  Church  from  the  earliest  ages,  testifies  plainly 
that  it  was  "ordained  by  Christ  Himself  as  a  means  whereby 
we  receive  .  .  .  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost"  1  though  its 
"visible  sign  or  ceremony"  is  not  expressly  said  in  the  Gospel 
to  have  been  ordained  by  Him.  In  mediaeval  days  in  the 
English  Church  it  was  "commonly  called  a  Sacrament."  2 
But  in  ancient  usage  very  many  religious  ceremonies  were 
called  Sacraments.  S.  Augustine  speaks  of  "the  Sacrament 
of  the  Creed,  which  they  ought  to  believe;  the  Sacrament  of 
the  Lord's  Prayer,  how  they  ought  to  ask." 3  The  Greek  word 
for  Sacrament  was  "Mystery"  (fjivaTrjpLov).  "The  Word 
made  flesh"  was  in  fact  the  source  and  pattern  of  all  Sacra- 
ments or  Mysteries  in  the  Church,  corresponding  to  the 

1  Catechism  and  Acts  ii,  38.  *  Sermon,  228. 

*  See  the  XXV  Article  of  Religion. 


3o4  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


definition  of  the  Catechism,  in  that  He  was  outwardly  the 
"visible  sign"  of  God  to  men,  and  inwardly  "full  of  grace 
and  truth."1  Christianity,  being  such  as  this,  is  necessarily 
full  of  Sacraments  or  Mysteries.2  In  this  wide  sense  of  the 
word,  therefore  Confirmation  may  be  called  a  Sacrament, 
for  it  has  unquestionably  an  "outward  visible  sign,"  and  an 
"inward  spiritual  grace,"  nothing  less  in  fact  than  "the  gift 
of  the  Holy  Ghost."  3 

The  assertion  of  the  XXV  Article  of  Religion  that  "Con- 
firmation and  Orders,"  among  other  rites  named,  "have 
not  any  visible  sign  or  ceremony  ordained  of  God,"  can  only 
be  accepted  as  meaning  that  no  "visible  sign"  is  specified  by 
our  Lord  in  so  many  recorded  words.4  But  this  would  apply 
equally  against  Holy  Baptism  being  a  Sacrament,  inasmuch 
as  the  "visible  sign"  of  Baptism,  which  the  Church  Cate- 
chism declares  to  be  "water"  is  not  named  at  all  by  our  Lord 
in  the  only  two  places  in  the  Gospel  where  He  is  recorded 
as  "ordaining"  the  Sacrament.5  The  use  of  water  can  only 
be  inferred  from  the  mystical  words  of  our  Lord  to  Nico- 
demus,  a  year  before  He  instituted  Holy  Baptism:  "Except 
a  man  be  born  of  water  and  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into 
the  kingdom  of  God,"  6  taken  in  connection  with  the  uni- 
versal custom  of  the  Church  from  the  beginning.  And  it 
is  this  selfsame  process  of  inference  and  universal  custom 

1  S.  John  i,  14;   1  Tim.  ii,  16. 

2  1  Cor.  iv,  1. 

3  Acts  ii,  38;  viii,  17;  xix,  6. 

4  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  Bishop  Forbes  in  his  Explanation 
of  the  Thirty  Nine  Articles,  p.  453,  should  say  of  Article  XXV,  "The 
language  of  the  Article  is  unfortunate,  not  in  that  it  raised  two  Sacra- 
ments above  the  rest,  but  in  tending  to  obscure  the  sacramental  character 
of  the  other  five  rites  by  undue  disparagement." 

5  S.  Matt,  xxviii,  19;  S.  Mark  xvi,  16. 

6  S.  John  iii,  5. 


CONFIRMATION 


305 


which  requires  us  to  class  Confirmation  and  Ordination  as 
sacramental  rites,  "ordained  by  Christ  Himself,"  though  not 
in  the  first  rank  as  "generally  necessary  to  salvation."  1 

In  proof  of  the  divine  origin  of  Confirmation  we  have, 
first,  the  distinct  assertion  of  the  author  of  the  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews  that  "the  Laying  on  of  Hands"  is  one  of  six 
"principles  of  Christ's  Doctrine"  or  teaching,  which  form, 
he  says,  "the  foundation"  of  the  Christian  religion.2  No 
orthodox  Christian  can  doubt  that  the  other  five  "princi- 
ples," namely,  repentance,  faith,  baptism,3  the  resurrection 
of  the  dead,  and  eternal  judgment,  are  such  "founda- 
tion" truths.  These,  it  will  be  observed,  are  all  given 
in  their  natural  order.  What  then  is  "the  Laying  on  of 
Hands?"  If  mentioned  elsewhere,  it  might  mean  ordina- 
tion to  the  sacred  Ministry.  Here  this  is  all  but  impos- 
sible. Such  ordination  is  not  a  necessity  for  all,  and  these 
six  "principles"  are  unquestionably  necessary  for  all.  It 
follows  therefore  that  the  Laying  on  of  Hands  can  mean 
nothing  else  than  that  ordination  to  the  universal  Christian 
priesthood  which  we  learn  from  the  New  Testament  else- 
where, and  from  Primitive  Church  writers,  to  have  been 
the  custom  of  the  Church  from  the  beginning. 

This  is  put  beyond  a  doubt  when  we  find,  in  the  first 
year  of  the  Church's  existence,  that  two  chief  Apostles  make 
a  special  journey  to  a  city  which  they  once  despised,  in 

1  It  is  to  be  observed  moreover  that  "the  laying  on  of  hands"  in  Ordina- 
tion, as  well  as  in  Confirmation,  has  no  recorded  authority  of  our  Lord. 
In  this  respect  the  Ordinations  of  the  clergyman  and  the  layman  stand  on 
exactly  the  same  footing. 

1  Heb.  vi,  2. 

3  The  word  used  here  is  "baptisms,"  not  "baptism."  The  reason  for 
this  is  found  in  the  fact  that  these  Hebrew  Christians  had  to  be  taught, 
like  those  in  Ephesus  (Acts  xix,  4,  5),  the  distinction  between  a  mere  Jewish 
ceremonial  washing  and  a  Christian  Sacrament. 


306   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fc?  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

order  to  lay  hands,  with  prayer  for  the  Holy  Ghost,  on 
certain  Samaritans  who  had  confessed  their  faith  in  Christ. 
They  had  been  baptized  by  Philip  the  Deacon,  but  it  is 
added  significantly  "that  they  had  only  been  baptized."1 
Twenty  years  later,  in  the  great  heathen  city  of  Ephesus, 
this  scene  is  almost  exactly  reproduced.2  Here  S.  Paul, 
also  an  Apostle  or  Bishop,  asks  some  Jewish  believers, 
"Have  ye  received  the  Holy  Ghost  since  ye  believed?"  and 
finding  that  they  had  only  received  the  Jewish  Baptism 
of  S.  John  the  Baptist,  proceeds  to  give  them  the  Baptism 
of  Christ,  and  then  imitates  the  action  of  S.  Peter  and  S. 
John  by  laying  his  hands  upon  them,  "and  the  Holy  Ghost 
came  on  them."  3 

Interpreted  in  the  light  of  these  two  examples  of  apostolic 
custom,  "written  for  our  learning,"  it  is  evident  that  the 
assertion  by  the  writer  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  that 
"the  Laying  on  of  Hands"  was  one  of  six  "first  principles," 
or  "foundation  truths,  of  "Christ's  teaching,"  can  only 
mean  that  it  was  delivered  to  His  Church  by  Christ 
Himself.  "It  is  plain  that  no  Apostle,  nor  even  the  whole 
'company  of  the  Apostles,5  could  invent  a  '  principle  of  the 
doctrine  of  Christ.'  Indeed,  there  is  scarcely  room  for 
doubt  that  it  was  given  among  those  unwritten  'command- 
ments' of  His  to  His  Apostles,  which  He  Himself  speaks  of 
when  He  bids  them  'make  disciples  {margin)  of  all  nations, 
teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have 
commanded  you,'  the  giving  of  which,  S.  Luke  tells  us,  1 
was  one  of  the  chief  objects  of  His  stay  on  earth  for  forty 
days  after  His  resurrection."  4 

Besides  these  definite  testimonies  to  Confirmation  in 
the  Acts,  as  an  ordinance  of  our  Lord  for  the  conveyance 

1  Acts  viii,  16.        2  Acts  xix,  1-8.         3  Acts  viii,  15;  xix,  2,  6. 
*  Acts  i,  2,  3,  Confirmation  and  the  Way  of  Life,  by  the  Author,  p.  128. 


CONFIRMATION 


307 


of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  penitent,  believing,  and  baptized 
Christians,  there  are  many  allusions  to  the  sacramental 
rite  in  the  Epistles.  Some  of  these  appear  under  the  name 
of  "The  Seal,"  or  "The  Sealing,"  the  name  by  which  the 
Oriental  Church,  so  conservative  of  Scriptural  language, 
still  calls  it.1  It  is  also  referred  to  frequently  as  "Unction," 
or  "Anointing."  As  our  Lord  Himself  is  the  Anointed 
One,  or  the  Christ,  so  also  Christians  are  "anointed  with 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  with  power."  2 

And  when  we  come  to  the  days  succeeding  those  of  the 
first  Apostles,  we  find  no  different  practice  from  that  which 
we  learn  from  Holy  Scripture.  In  his  treatise  concerning 
Baptism  Tertullian  (a.d.  150-220)  writes:  —  "After  this, 
having  come  out  from  the  bath  [that  is,  the  baptismal  font] 
we  are  anointed  thoroughly  with  a  blessed  unction.  .  .  .  Next 
to  this,  the  hand  is  laid  upon  us,  calling  upon  and  inviting 
the  Holy  Spirit,  through  the  blessing." 3  S.  Cyprian  in 
the  same  century  writes:  —  "Anointed  also  must  be  of 
necessity  he  who  is  baptized,  that  having  received  the 
chrism,  that  is,  unction,  he  may  be  anointed  of  God,  and 
have  within  him  the  grace  of  Christ."  4  Expounding  the 
Confirmation  of  the  Samaritans  by  S.  Peter  and  S.  John, 
he  says:  —  "Which  now  also  is  done  among  us,  those  bap- 
tized in  the  Church  being  brought  to  the  Bishops  of  the 
Church,  and  by  our  prayer,  and  laying  on  of  hands,  they 

1  See  Eph.  i,  13,  14;  2  Cor.  i,  21;  2  Tim,  ii,  19;  and  compare  S.  John 
vi.  27. 

*  Acts  iv,  27;  x,  38;  2  Cor.  i,  21;  and  compare  1  S.  John  ii,  20,  27. 
S.  Paul's  reminder  to  Timothy,  now  Bishop  of  the  Ephesians,  concerning 
"the  gift  of  God,  which  is  in  thee  by  the  putting  on  of  my  hands,"  when 
taken  in  connection  with  the  preceding  words,  and  with  what  is  said  of 
him  in  Acts  xvi,  1,  2,  3,  seems  to  have  reference  to  his  Confirmation,  rather 
than  his  Ordination. 

*  De  Bapt.,  vii,  viii.  «  Ep.  lxx,  3. 


3o8   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


receive  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  are  perfected  with  the  seal  of 
the  Lord."  1 

The  Purpose  and  the  Effect  of  Confirmation  are 
most  definitely  stated  for  us  in  the  question  of  S.  Paul  to 
the  twelve  believers  in  Ephesus:  —  "Have  ye  received  the 
Holy  Ghost  since  ye  believed?"  2  It  may  be  enquired  con- 
cerning this  "gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  Does  not  every  one 
who  repents  and  believes  in  Christ,  or  who  is  baptized, 
receive  the  Holy  Ghost?  And  the  answer  to  this  question 
is  that  His  gifts  are  as  manifold  as  men's  needs.  Isaiah, 
with  his  imperfect  knowledge  of  God,  enumerates  seven 
such  gifts,  and  this  thought  has  been  incorporated  into  the 
chief  prayer  of  the  office,  but  only  as  the  number  seven  may 
stand  for  countless  other  gifts  which  He  has  to  bestow. 
S.  Paul  tells  us  that  "No  man  can  say  that  Jesus  is  the 
Lord  but  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  3  And  as  it  is  with  our 
belief,  so  is  it  with  every  other  holy  act  or  thought. 

"Every  virtue  we  possess, 
And  every  victory  won, 
And  every  thought  of  holiness 
Are  His  alone." 

The  special  purpose  which  God  has  for  us  in  Confirmation 
is  best  expressed  in  the  word  itself,  namely,  to  make  firm 

1  Ep.  lxxiii,  8.  Our  own  service  for  Confirmation  itself  testifies  to  the 
continuous  use  of  the  rite  "from  the  Apostles'  time,"  and  therefore  to  its 
divine  origin.  The  phrase,  "after  the  example  of  Thy  holy  Apostles,"  in 
the  last  Collect  but  one,  shows  also  that  the  Church  claims  to  do  exactly 
what  the  Apostles  did,  and  nothing  less  or  different.  For  the  present 
Office  is  nothing  new  in  the  Church,  but  is  simply  a  revision  of  that  which, 
for  a  thousand  years  or  more  before  1549,  has  been  said  in  England  over 
all  her  children.  The  very  words  of  the  prayer  used  by  our  Bishops  today, 
"Almighty  and  Everlasting  God,  who  hast  vouchsafed,  etc.,"  have  been 
used  through  all  the  centuries  from  the  time  of  Gelasius,  Bishop  of  Rome, 
in  the  year  492,  and  probably  from  a  much  earlier  period. 

1  Acts  xix,  2.  3  1  Cor.  xii,  3. 


CONFIRMATION  309 

or  strong;  or,  as  S.  Peter  puts  it,  to  "stablish,  strengthen, 
settle"  the  Christian  in  his  faith  and  love.1  It  is  plainly 
then  a  very  low  and  unscriptural  view  of  Confirmation  to 
regard  it  as  merely  an  opportunity  for  the  confirming  of 
one's  baptismal  vows  in  a  public  and  solemn  way.  This 
in  fact  is  done  every  time  a  child  answers  the  question  in 
the  Catechism,  "Dost  thou  not  think  that  thou  art  bound 
to  believe,  and  to  do,  as  they  [thy  sponsors]  have  promised 
for  thee?"  and  the  child  replies,  "Yes,  verily;  and  by  God's 
help  so  I  will."  If  this  were  all  that  Confirmation  meant, 
there  would  be  no  need  for  any  further  service,  and  the 
person  or  child  would  not  be  asked,  "Have  you  been 
confirmed?"  but  "Have  you  confirmed?"  (that  is,  your 
baptismal  vows),  which  is  a  totally  different  matter; 
proper  in  itself  indeed,  but  only  a  condition  of  the  "un- 
speakable Gift,"  2  which  is  promised  in  "the  Laying  on  of 
Hands."  3 

This  thought  of  "the  manifold  gifts"  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
is  one  that  is  sadly  overlooked  in  practice  among  us.  It 
has  its  full  expression  in  the  great  mediaeval  hymn  to  the 
Holy  Ghost,  the  Veni  Creator  Spiritus,  sometimes  attrib- 
uted to  Charlemagne,  and  which  is  still  used  as  the  Office 
Hymn  in  our  Ordination  Service.  It  is  also  beautifully 
set  forth  in  the  following  passage  from  a  Book  of  Homilies 
written  before  the  Reformation;  and  preserved  in  York 
Minster  Library:  — 

1  Pet.  v,  10.  2  2  Cor.  ix,  15. 

3  This  very  common  error  in  regard  to  Confirmation  has  received  much 
encouragement  from  the  phrase,  "ratify  and  confirm"  which  now  forms 
part  of  the  opening  address.  It  was  "ratify  and  confess"  in  the  Book  of 
1549,  where  it  formed  part  of  one  of  the  rubrics.  The  change  was  made 
under  vicious  foreign  influences  in  the  illegal  revision  of  1552.  When 
the  last  revision  was  accomplished  in  1662,  the  rubric  took  the  form  of 
an  address,  and  the  misleading  word  was  unfortunately  left  unchanged. 


310   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

"In  Baptism  he  was  born  spiritually  to  live,  in  Con- 
firmation he  is  made  bold  to  fight.  There  he  received  re- 
mission of  sin,  here  he  receiveth  increase  of  grace.  There 
the  Spirit  of  God  did  make  him  a  new  man,  here  the  same 
Spirit  doth  defend  him  in  his  dangerous  conflict.  There 
he  was  washed  and  made  clean,  here  he  is  nourished  and 
made  strong.  In  Baptism  he  was  chosen  to  be  God's  son, 
and  an  inheritor  of  His  heavenly  kingdom;  in  Confirmation 
God  will  give  him  His  Holy  Spirit  to  be  his  Mentor,  to  in- 
struct him  and  perfect  him,  that  he  lose  not  by  his  folly 
that  inheritance  which  he  is  called  unto." 

\  It  may  be  urged  by  way  of  objection  to  the  continued 
use  of  Confirmation  that,  in  both  the  cases  recorded  in 
the  Acts,1  miraculous  powers  followed  on  the  gift  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  How  then,  it  may  be  asked,  do  we  know  that 
the  Holy  Ghost  is  given  in  Confirmation  now?  In  reply 
I  would  say,  as  I  have  said  elsewhere,  —  "The  miraculous 
powers  were  granted  at  the  first  to  establish  once  for  all, 
by  outward  signs,  the  certainty  of  an  invisible  fact.  This 
was  indeed  the  purpose  of  all  miracles,  'for  a  sign,  not  to 
them  that  believe,  but  to  them  that  believe  not,' 2  and 
when  they  had  fulfilled  their  purpose,  they  passed  away. 
To  argue  that  because  miraculous  gifts  do  not  attend  Con- 
firmation now  would  indeed  prove  too  much.  Our  Lord 
promised  that  miraculous  'signs'  would  follow  them  that  be- 
lieve?  Yet  I  am  sure  that  no  one  will  assert  that  there  is 
therefore  no  true  belief  in  the  world,  because  the  miracu- 
lous signs  are  absent.  It  is  indeed  a  low  view  of  God's 
spiritual  gifts  to  men  to  suppose  that  the  power  of  speaking 
different  languages,  or  of  healing  men's  bodies,  is  greater 
than  that  of  purifying  the  soul,  nerving  it  for  holy  works, 
strengthening  it  against  temptations,  and  driving  back 
the  tide  of  sin  and  corruption  in  the  heart.  ...  To  enable 
1  Chapters  viii  and  xix.        2  I  Cor.  xiv,  22.        3  S.  Mark  xvi,  17. 


CONFIRMATION 


3ii 


the  soul  to  do  these  'greater  works,'  as  our  Lord  calls  them,1 
is  then  the  true  purpose  of  the  Holy  Spirit  being  given  in 
Confirmation. "  2 

It  is  evident  from  all  this  that  Confirmation  should  oc- 
cupy a  very  high  place  in  the  life  of  every  Christian.  It 
has  much  of  the  character  of  Ordination  of  the  Clergy.  In 
fact  it  is  a  very  real  act  of  Ordination  to  that  "royal  priest- 
hood "  which  is  the  privilege  of  every  Christian.3  It  is  a 
consecration  to  a  life  of  service  to  Christ  and  our  fellow- 
men  just  as  genuine  in  its  sphere  of  duty  as  that  of  the 
ministerial  priesthood,  and  as  indelible  as  Holy  Orders.4 
Taken  together  with  Holy  Baptism,  of  which  it  is  but  the 
complement,  it  may  well  be  named  "The  Sacrament  of  Re- 
sponsibility for  the  priestly  Layman. "  The  two  kinds  of 
Priests  are  not  opposed,  but  "are  members  one  of  another."6 

There  is  no  stated  address  or  questioning  of  the  candi- 
dates, either  in  the  ancient  Use  of  Salisbury,  or  in  the  first 
revised  Book.  In  the  latter  the  Catechism  was  not  printed 
separately,  but  formed  the  beginning  of  the  service,  and 
the  Bishop  was  left  to  his  discretion  to  ask  such  questions 
as  he  saw  fit.  The  service  then  proceeded  with  the  ver- 
sicles  beginning,  "Our  help  is  in  the  Name  of  the  Lord," 
etc.,  with  the  prayer  for  the  seven-fold  gifts. 

1  S.  John  xiv,  12. 

8  Confirmation  and  the  Way  of  Life,  pp.  13 1— 133 .  Compare  I  Cor. 
xiii,  1,  2,  3,  13;  and  Gal.  v,  22,  23.  S.  Chrysostom  thus  explains  the  with- 
drawal of  miracles:  —  "The  blossom  faded  because  the  fruit  appeared." 

1  1  Pet.  ii,  5,  9;  Rev.  i,  6;  v,  10. 

4  It  is  for  this  reason  that  Confirmation  may  not  be  repeated  when 
once  validly  administered.  The  Upper  House  of  Convocation  of  Canter- 
bury in  1714  prepared  "A  Form  for  admitting  Converts  from  the  Church 
of  Rome"  who  had  already  been  confirmed.  This  was  amended  by  the 
same  House  of  Bishops  in  1890,  and  is  published  by  the  S.  P.  C.  K. 

6  See  pp.  180-184  for  a  full  consideration  of  this  subject. 


3i2   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

The  beautiful  prayer,  "Defend,  0  Lord,"  etc.,  which 
accompanies  the  Laying  on  of  Hands,  was  added  by  the 
Revisers  in  1549,  taking  the  place  of  the  mere  declaration  of 
the  old  Latin  rite  which  read,  "N  [naming  the  person],  I  sign 
thee  with  the  sign  of  the  Cross,  and  confirm  thee  with  the  oint- 
ment of  salvation.  In  the  Name,"  etc.  All  that  follows  down 
to  the  Blessing,  which  is  found  also  in  the  Salisbury  Office, 
was  the  work  of  the  Revisers  in  1549;  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
and  the  second  of  the  two  Collects  being  added  in  1662. 

In  regard  to  the  Minister  of  Confirmation,  we  read 
in  the  New  Testament  that  only  Apostles  or  Bishops  ad- 
ministered the  Laying  on  of  Hands.  This  was  usually 
done  in  apostolic  days  immediately  after  Baptism,  as  seen 
in  the  case  of  the  Confirmation  in  Ephesus,  and  it  was  the 
primitive  rule  even  as  regards  infants,1  who  also  received 
the  Holy  Communion.  In  later  days  authority  to  ad- 
minister Confirmation  was  extended  to  Priests.  In  this, 
however,  the  Priest  acts  only  as  the  Bishop's  deputy,  and 
with  holy  oil,  the  symbol  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  blessed  by 
him,  for  the  anointing.  "Together  with  this  unction  they 
usually  joined  the  sign  of  the  Cross.  For  this  ceremony 
they  used  on  all  occasions,  and  therefore  could  not  omit  it 
in  this  solemn  act  of  Confirmation."  2 

This  custom  of  the  Priest  acting  as  the  vicar  of  the  Bishop 
seems  to  have  grown  up  in  the  East  on  account  of  the  in- 
creased size  of  Dioceses  after  the  days  when,  as  we  know, 
each  city  and  large  country  district  had  its  own  Bishop. 
In  the  Western  Church  the  administration  of  the  rite  con- 
tinued to  be  restricted  to  Bishops  exclusively,  and  conse- 
quently Confirmation  was  postponed  until  the  child  had 
reached  the  age  of  discretion.  Thus  East  and  West  solved 
the  problem  of  larger  Dioceses  in  opposite  ways;  the  East 

1  Bingham,  Antiq.  XII,  i,  2.  1  Bingham,  Antiq.  XII,  iii,  4. 


CONFIRMATION 


313 


not  ignoring  the  authority  of  the  Bishop,  but  recognizing 
him  as  the  chief  Pastor,  and  the  centre  of  unity,  by  requir- 
ing the  use  of  oil  specially  set  apart  and  blessed  by  him; 
the  West  postponing  the  Confirmation  to  a  later  date,  thus 
separating  the  time  of  the  two  gifts  spoken  of  by  S.  Peter 
in  his  sermon  on  the  Day  of  Pentecost.1 

The  result  of  this  postponement  has  not  always  been  so 
satisfactory  as  it  would  seem.  In  mediaeval  days  there 
was  much  carelessness  and  neglect  on  the  part  of  both 
Bishops  and  Parish  Priests,  as  witnessed  by  the  injunction 
issued  by  Archbishop  Peckham  of  Canterbury  in  1281, 
which  says:  —  "We  ordain  that  no  one  shall  be  admitted 
to  the  Sacrament  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  the  Lord,  except 
in  peril  of  death,  unless  he  shall  have  been  confirmed,  or 
unless  he  be  reasonably  prevented  from  receiving  Confirma- 
tion." 2  Bishop  Cosin  has  a  note  which  shows  that  a  loose 
practice  of  mediaeval  days  prevailed  even  in  the  seven- 
teenth century,  Bishops  sometimes  confirming  "children  in 
the  streets,  in  the  highways,  and  in  the  common  fields, 
without  any  sacred  solemnity."  3  The  present  rubric  ex- 
cluding unconfirmed  persons  from  the  Holy  Communion  is 
almost  an  exact  reproduction  of  the  injunction  of  Arch- 
bishop Peckham. 

This  rubric  and  its  original  have  lately  been  used  in  the 
most  paradoxical  way  as  an  argument  for  admitting  uncon- 
firmed persons  to  the  Holy  Communion.  This  is  done  on 
the  curious  plea  that  the  Church's  laws  are  only  meant  for 
her  own  children,  and  that  others  who  do  not  recognize 
her  authority  may  have  privileges  which  are  denied  to  her 
own!  It  seems  to  be  overlooked  that  a  rule  like  this  would 
allow  any  unbaptized  persons,  Quaker  or  otherwise,  to  be 
admitted  to  the  Holy  Communion,  provided  they  were 

1  Acts  ii,  38.  2  Constit.  iv.  3  Works  v,  522. 


3i4   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


only  sincere  in  their  belief.  It  is  admitted  of  course  that 
Confirmation  is  not  "generally  necessary  to  salvation,"  as 
Baptism  and  the  Holy  Communion  are.  During  the  first 
1 80  years  in  all  the  American  colonies,  no  one  could  be 
confirmed  unless  he  made  a  dangerous  voyage  to  England, 
as  every  candidate  for  Holy  Orders  was  obliged  to  do.  Two 
thirds  of  the  signers  of  the  American  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence were  Churchmen,  and  many  of  the  leaders  in  the 
Revolution,  including  Washington  and  others,  were  com- 
municants, yet  they  were  not  confirmed.  But  this  was 
only  because  of  physical  impossibility.  They  were,  how- 
ever, "ready  and  desirous  to  be  confirmed,,,  as  the  rubric 
provides,  and  therefore  were  rightly  admitted  to  the  bless- 
ings of  full  communion  at  the  altar. 

So  also,  in  missionary  lands,  and  in  new  countries  like 
the  United  States,  Canada,  and  Australia,  there  are  excep- 
tional cases  known  to  every  loyal  Priest  where,  as  a  result 
of  honest  misunderstanding,  family  tradition,  or  early  pre- 
judice, devout  Christian  parents  who  are  regular  wor- 
shipers in  the  Church,  and  even  bringing  up  their  children 
in  it,  should  not  be  repelled  from  the  Holy  Communion, 
though  not  yet  "ready  and  desirous  to  be  confirmed. "  This 
is  especially  true  of  persons  who  have  received  so-called 
Confirmation  at  the  hands  of  a  Lutheran  Minister,  and 
who  are  unable  to  understand  wherein  this  differs  from 
the  Laying  on  of  Hands  by  a  Bishop  in  the  Holy  Catholic 
Church.  These  are  cases  deserving  of  very  tender  consid- 
eration. Such  persons  cannot  certainly  be  regarded  as 
regular  communicants.  They  cannot  be  formally  invited 
to  come  unconfirmed,  but  a  wise  charity  would  hope  that 
the  grace  of  the  Holy  Sacrament,  whose  "cup  runneth  over 
over,"  1  would  in  process  of  time  enable  them  to  see  their 

1  Ps.  xxiii,  5. 


CONFIRMATION 


3i5 


error,  oftenest  one  of  the  head,  and  not  of  the  heart.  In 
seeking  to  persuade  them,  moreover,  it  is  well  to  impress 
upon  them  the  fact  that  they  are  not  thereby  casting  any 
slight  on  the  grace  which  has  been  already  given  them 
through  their  earlier  training  and  spiritual  experience,  but 
are  only  coming  to  receive  a  new  gift  which  God  has  had  in 
store  for  them  all  along  though  they  knew  it  not.  "For 
all  these  worketh  that  one  and  the  self-same  Spirit."  1 

As  to  Methods  of  Confirming,  the  rule  is  not  the  same 
everywhere.  Both  the  Oriental  and  the  Roman  Churches 
retain  the  ancient  custom  of  anointing,  and  signing  with 
the  sign  of  the  Cross,  but  these  are  only  ceremonial  acces- 
sories. The  essential  "visible  sign"  is  plainly  specified 
by  the  scriptural  name  of  "The  Laying  on  of  Hands,"  ac- 
companied by  prayer  for  the  Holy  Ghost.  In  the  mediaeval 
Church  of  England,  as  in  the  Roman  Church  today,  the 
Bishop  was  accustomed  to  touch  only  the  cheek  of  the  can- 
didate. This  undoubtedly  constitutes  a  valid  Confirma- 
tion, but  the  rule  of  the  Prayer  Book,  which  requires  that 
the  Bishop  "lay  his  hand  [hands  in  the  American  Book] 
upon  the  head  of  every  one  severally,"  is  not  only  more  in 
keeping  with  Holy  Scripture  and  primitive  custom,  but  is 
also  much  more  impressive.  Many  Bishops,  moreover, 
still  continue  the  ancient  practice  of  signing  with  the  Cross, 
as  was  already  done  in  Holy  Baptism.2 

1  1  Cor.  xii,  11.  See  also  the  note  at  the  end  of  chap,  xvi,  p.  166, 
and  the  anecdote  told  there  of  Bishop  Wilberforce. 

2  The  Scottish  Book  makes  special  provision  for  this,  leaving  its  use, 
however,  to  the  discretion  of  the  Bishop.  The  form  is  as  follows:  "N, 
I  sign  thee  with  the  sign  of  the  cross  [here  the  Bishop  shall  sign  the  person 
with  the  sign  of  the  cross  on  the  forehead^  and  I  lay  my  hands  [or  hand] 
upon  thee,  in  the  Name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost."    The  prayer,  "Defend,  0  Lord,"  follows  immediately. 


316   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fc?  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


In  regard  to  the  Proper  Age  of  Candidates,  the  Church 
of  England  in  her  112th  canon  requires  that  all  persons 
shall  become  communicants  before  the  age  of  sixteen. 
The  American  Church  has  no  rule  as  to  age,  nor  can  any 
definite  age  be  prescribed  for  receiving  this  gift  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  It  would  seem,  however,  as  if  the  age  of  twelve, 
when  the  Holy  Child  Jesus  was  admitted  by  a  species  of 
Jewish  Confirmation  to  the  full  privileges  of  the  Church,1 
should  be  the  constant  aim  of  both  parents  and  clergy.  It 
is  not  really  a  question  of  years  (some  are  too  young  at 
seventy),  but  of  fitness  and  desire.  It  should  be  noted 
however  that,  in  the  Office  for  the  Baptism  of  Infants,  the 
Church  lays  down  the  rule  that  "this  child  shall  be  brought 
to  the  Bishop,"  not  merely  left  to  itself  to  come.  It  is 
plain  also  from  the  smallness  of  her  demand  concerning 
religious  knowledge  that  she  has  here  in  mind  a  very  tender 
age.  There  is  to  be  no  delay,  but  "so  soon  as  he  can  say 
the  Creed,  the  Lord's  Prayer  and  the  Ten  Commandments, 
and  be  further  instructed  in  the  Church  Catechism  set  forth 
for  that  purpose." 

The  following  words  of  one  who  knew  and  loved  children 
are  worth  pondering  in  this  connection:  — 

"Do  you  not  judge  the  religion  of  young  people  by  a 
harsher  standard  than  you  do  your  own?  Do  you  not  often 
expect  more  from  them  than  you  ask  of  yourselves?  Do 
grown  people  never  fall  away  afterward?  I  believe  it  will 
be  found  that  the  proportion  is  not  so  great  in  the  case  of 
the  children  as  in  the  case  of  grown  people.  [This  was  also 
the  remarkable  confession  of  the  late  Mr.  Spurgeon  in  his 
later  years.]  I  am  sure,  if  they  do  fall  away,  for  evermore 
with  a  voice  of  increasing  entreaty,  the  grace  that  came 
with  their  early  Communion  will  plead  with  them,  and  knock 
at  the  door  of  their  hearts,  until,  like  him  of  old,  they  will 

1  S.  Luke  ii,  42. 


CONFIRMATION 


3i7 


rise  and  go  to  their  Father,  and  say,  'Father,  I  have  sinned 
against  Heaven  and  before  Thee,  and  am  no  more  worthy 
to  be  called  Thy  son.' "  1 

In  the  revision  of  1892  the  American  Church  provided 
the  following  form  of  presenting  the  candidates  for  Con- 
firmation to  the  Bishop:  —  "Reverend  Father  in  God,  I 
present  unto  you  these  children  (or  these  persons)  to  re- 
ceive the  Laying  on  of  Hands. "  This  is  followed  by  the 
following  rubric  and  Lesson:  —  "Then  the  Bishop,  or  some 
Minister  appointed  by  him,  may  say, 

"Hear  the  words  of  the  Evangelist  Saint  Luke,  in  the 
eighth  Chapter  of  the  Book  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles'9 
(Verses  14-18).  After  the  final  rubric  of  the  original  Office 
this  also  was  added:  —  "The  Minister  shall  not  omit  ear- 
nestly to  move  the  Persons  confirmed  to  come,  without 
delay,  to  the  Lord's  Supper."  2 

1  Dr.  James  de  Koven.  What  is  said  here  about  the  early  Confirmation 
and  Communion  of  children  generally  is  especially  true  of  boys,  who,  if 
allowed  to  grow  up  and  go  away  from  home  unconfirmed,  find  decision, 
preparation,  and  formal  confession  of  Christ  a  formidable  barrier  in  later 
life,  much  more  so  than  girls  under  similar  circumstances. 

2  In  "An  Alternative  Order  for  the  Ministration  of  Confirmation,  as 
Canonically  Sanctioned  in  the  Scottish  Church,"  provision  is  made  for 
"candidates  who  had  not  godfathers  and  godmothers  at  their  baptism." 
Here  the  vows  are  asked  separately. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 


Solemnization  of  Matrimony  —  Marriage  and  Divorce 

"While  divorce  of  any  kind  impairs  the  integrity  of  the  family,  divorce 
with  remarriage  destroys  it  root  and  branch."  —  Gladstone. 

IT  is  important  to  observe  the  title  of  this  Office.  It  is 
only  "The  Form  for  the  Solemnization  of  Matrimony,'* 
that  is,  the  Church's  solemn  sanction  and  blessing  upon 
the  entrance  on  what  is  in  itself  a  divinely  ordained  estate 
or  condition  of  life.  Without  that  blessing,  the  union 
of  an  unmarried  man  and  an  unmarried  woman  would  still 
be  marriage.  For  marriage,  first  of  all,  is  a  natural  state 
of  life,  "instituted  of  God  in  the  time  of  man's  innocency," 
for  this  threefold  purpose,  (i)  the  continuance  of  the  human 
race,  in  "a  godly  seed;"  (2)  "for  a  remedy  against  sin;" 
(3)  "for  mutual  society,  help,  and  comfort."  1  As  thus 
ordained  by  God  at  "the  beginning  of  the  creation,"  and 
as  sanctioned  afterwards  by  our  Lord,  marriage  is  the 
union  of  one  man  and  one  woman  so  that  they  are  no  longer 
"twain,"  each  independent  of  the  other,  but  "one  flesh."  2 
It  necessarily  follows  that  marriage,  once  freely  entered 
into  and  consummated  by  cohabitation,  is  indissoluble. 
To  allow  that  the  sin  of  one,  or  of  both  parties,  could  destroy 
the  bond,  would  be  to  make  marriage  a  mere  contract  to 
be  dissolved  at  pleasure,  and  not  a  "holy  estate."  Moreover, 
being  a  natural  union,  "one  flesh,"  it  is  no  more  possible  for 
either  the  Church  or  the  State  to  dissolve  the  bond  than  it 

1  Gen.  i,  28;  ii,  18,  etc.;  Mai.  ii,  15;  and  the  opening  address  in  the 
English  Office. 

8  Gen.  ii,  24;  S.  Matt,  xix,  5;  S.  Mark  x,  6,  8. 


MARRIAGE  AND  DIVORCE  319 


is  possible  for  them  to  dissolve  the  natural  bond  that  binds 
the  child  to  its  parents,  or  a  brother  to  a  sister.  "What 
God  hath  joined  together"  man  cannot  in  reality  "put  asun- 
der," for  "they  twain  are  one  flesh."  1 

This  original  law  of  marriage  was  grievously  abused  and 
broken  by  the  Jews.  The  effort  of  Moses  in  dealing  with 
the  question  is  the  first  of  which  we  have  any  record  in 
history,  and  it  was  rather  in  the  way  of  restriction  of  inevita- 
ble evils,  "because  of  the  hardness  of  their  hearts,"  2  than  of 
a  return  to  first  principles.  Only  the  weightiest  causes 
were  admitted,  and  no  divorce  was  allowed  except  from 
bed  and  board,  a  mensa  et  tboro.  Divorce  from  the  bond, 
a  vinculo,  had  no  recognition  whatever.3  The  only  prescrip- 
tion in  the  case  of  adultery  was  the  death  of  the  adulteress.4 
Moses*  work  undoubtedly  produced  beneficent  results,  but 
scribes  and  rabbis,  like  their  modern  representatives,  the 
divorce  lawyers,  found  or  made  plenty  of  loopholes  whereby, 
fifteen  hundred  years  later,  they  obtained  for  their  clients 
divorces  "for  every  cause."  5 

It  was  then  in  face  of  this  condition  that  We  Find  Our 
Lord  Restating  in  Unmistakable  Language  the  Law 
as  it  was  "From  the  Beginning."  6  His  complete  and 
unqualified  teaching  is  summed  up  in  the  sayings  as  given 
by  S.  Mark  and  S.  Luke:  "Whosoever  shall  put  away  his 
wife,  and  marry  another,  committeth  adultery  against 
her.  And  if  a  woman  shall  put  away  her  husband,  and  be 
married  to  another,  she  committeth  adultery;"  and  "Who- 
soever marrieth  her  that  is  put  away  from  her  husband 

1  S.  Matt,  xix,  5,  6. 

'  Deut.  xxiv,  1;  S.  Matt,  xix,  8;  cf.  Acts  xvii,  30. 

8  See  a  discussion  of  this  in  Luckock's  History  of  Marriage,  30,  sq. 

4  Lev.  xx,  10. 

6  S.  Matt,  xix,  3.  6  S.  Matt,  xix,  8. 


32o   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


committeth  adultery."  1  It  is  hard  to  conceive  of  words 
more  definite  than  these. 

In  S.  Matthew  alone  we  find  an  allowance  to  put  away 
a  wife,  but  this  only  "for  the  cause  of  fornication. "  2  The 
genuineness  of  this  exception  has  been  called  in  question 
by  scholars.  Moreover,  the  meaning  of  the  word,  as  not 
being  adultery  (jdOLxda)  but  prenuptial  sin  (which,  ac- 
cording to  the  Jewish  law,  made  the  marriage  void,  that 
is,  no  marriage  at  all)  has  also  been  a  subject  of  much  con- 
troversy. But  putting  these  arguments  aside  as  non-essen- 
tial or  inconclusive,  the  one  supreme  fact  that  stands  out 
as  strongly  and  clearly  in  S.  Matthew  as  in  S.  Mark  and 
S.  Luke  is  that  "whosoever  shall  marry  any  woman  that  is 
divorced"  (a  single  word  in  the  Greek,  airo\e\vfievriv), 
whether  for  fornication  or  any  other  cause,  "committeth 
adultery."  3 

But  if  the  bond  is  really  broken  by  adultery,  fornication, 
or  any  other  cause,  it  follows  logically  that  both  parties 
are  free.  In  that  case  however  a  difficulty  arises  as  to  why 
our  Lord  should  forbid  remarriage  to  the  guilty  party,  as 
He  does,  while  He  allows  it  by  His  silence,  as  some  would 
contend,  to  the  innocent.  The  only  possible  explanation 
of  this  apparent  inconsistency  is  that  the  inference  from 
His  silence  is  wrong.  The  bond  is  not  broken,  but  only 
profaned;  neither  party  is  free,  and  the  prohibition  applies 
equally  to  both  innocent  and  guilty.4 

1  S.  Mark  x,  n,  12;  S.  Luke  xvi,  18. 

2  TopveLa,  S.  Matt,  v,  32;  xix,  9. 

8  Bishop  Middleton  on  The  Greek  Article  calls  attention  to  the  fact 
that  in  both  passages  of  S.  Matthew,  and  in  S.  Luke  xvi,  18,  the  article 
before  "her  that  is  divorced"  is  absent,  so  that  "her"  should  rather  be 
"any  woman." 

4  The  words  of  Dr.  Dollinger,  the  great  Old  Catholic  theologian,  and 
historian,  are  well  worth  quoting  here.    Referring  to  the  assumption  that 


MARRIAGE  AND  DIVORCE  321 

In  dealing  with  this  passage  it  is  constantly  overlooked 
that  while  the  chief  thought  in  the  minds  of  our  Lord's 
questioners  is  concerning  "  putting  away,"  the  thought 
uppermost  in  His  mind  and  on  His  lips  is  the  unlawfulness 
of  remarriage.  "Whoso  marrieth  any  woman  that  is  put 
away  committeth  adultery,"  is  His  unqualified  assertion, 
not  only  here  but  in  every  instance  where  He  speaks  of 
divorce.  The  exception  which  He  makes  in  this  solitary 
passage,  on  the  face  of  it  refers  only  to  "putting  away." 
and  not  to  remarriage.  Mr.  Gladstone  has  forcibly  illus- 
trated this  by  a  parallel  case.  "Suppose,"  he  says,  "we 
found  this  precept:  'Whosoever  shall  flog  his  son,  except 
it  be  for  disobedience,  and  put  him  to  death,  shall  be  pun- 
ished by  law.'  What  should  we  think  of  the  interpreter 
who  founded  upon  this  sentence  the  position  that  a  father 
might,  for  disobedience,  flog  his  son  to  death?  .  .  .  But  if 
the  exceptive  words  give  a  permission,  as  we  contend,  only 
for  putting  away,  and  not  for  remarriage,  everything  be- 
comes at  once  clear  and  simple."  1 

That  this  was  also  the  view  taken  by  S.  Paul  is  evident 
from  such  passages  as  the  following:  "The  woman  which 
hath  a  husband  is  bound  by  the  law  to  her  husband  as  long 

adultery  ipso  facto  destroys  the  very  essence  of  marriage,  and  that  remar- 
riage in  that  case  is  allowable,  he  says,  "This  interpretation  of  the  words 
of  Christ  goes  against  language,  history  and  logic."  According  to  this 
assumption,  "the  married  person  would  know  from  the  first,  and  all  along, 
that  however  firm  his  own  determination,  it  lay  in  the  power  of  the  other 
party  to  dissolve  the  tie.  And  if  Christ  taught  that  marriage  could  be  dis- 
solved by  adultery,  S.  Mark,  S.  Luke,  and  S.  Paul  withheld  this  important 
fact  from  their  readers,  and  misled  them  by  misrepresenting  the  case; 
so  that  the  Churches  had  first  to  learn  the  truth  from  the  Greek  translation 
of  S.  Matthew"  (The  First  Age  of  the  the  Church,  Eng.  Trans.,  II,  266,  267, 
268).  Dollinger's  treatment  of  the  whole  question  of  Marriage  and 
Divorce  from  the  point  of  Scripture  alone  is  worthy  of  careful  study. 
1  London  Quarterly  Reviezv,  in  article  on  the  English  Divorce  Act  of  1857. 


322   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


as  he  liveth.  ...  If,  while  her  husband  liveth,  she  is  married 
to  another  man,  she  shall  be  called  an  adulteress. "  "Unto 
the  married  I  command,  yet  not  I,  but  the  Lord  [Jesus], 
Let  not  the  wife  depart  from  her  husband:  but  if  she  de- 
part, let  her  remain  unmarried,  or  be  reconciled  to  her 
husband." 1  These  last  words  about  possible  reconcilia- 
tion suggest  to  us  one  other  fundamental  reason  for  the 
indissoluble  character  of  marriage.  Such  a  view  is  alone 
consistent  with  our  Lord's  great  law  of  forgiveness  "until 
seventy  times  seven,"  2  and  with  His  word  to  the  adul- 
terous woman,  "Neither  do  I  condemn  thee:  go,  and  sin 
no  more."  3  If  remarriage  were  allowable  to  either  party, 
the  door  of  forgiveness  and  reconciliation  would  be  for 
ever  shut.  In  the  Shepherd,  a  book  dating  from  about 
a.d.  75,  and  of  such  weight  in  sub-Apostolic  times  that  it 
was  read  in  the  services  of  the  Church  as  Holy  Scripture, 
Hermas  declares  concerning  a  penitent  who  is  put  away 
by  her  husband,  "If  the  husband  do  not  take  her  back,  he 
sins,  and  brings  a  great  sin  upon  himself;  for  he  ought  to 
take  back  the  sinner  who  has  repented.  .  .  .  But  if  he  put 
away  his  wife  and  marry  another  he  also  commits  adultery."  4 
When  We  Pass  on  from  the  New  Testament  and  sub- 
Apostolic  period  to  the  following  age,  we  find  no  variation 
from  this  teaching.  "It  is  most  significant  that  the  testi- 
mony of  the  first  three  centuries  affords  no  single  instance 

1  Rom.  vii,  2,  3;  1  Cor.  vii,  10,  11.  In  this  latter  passage  the  apostle 
speaks  in  the  name  of  Christ,  and  is  laying  down  His  law  for  Christians. 
In  speaking  of  marriage  with  or  among  heathen  people,  which  is  still  a 
difficult  problem  for  our  missionaries  in  pagan  lands,  he  speaks  less 
decisively,  "I,  not  the  Lord  Jesus";  but  this  only  brings  out  with  greater 
emphasis  the  authoritative  and  absolute  character  of  his  previous  state- 
ment, "Not  I,  but  the  Lord." 

8  S.  Matt,  xviii,  22. 

8  S.  John  viii,  11.  4  Book  II,  Commandment  iv,  chap.  I. 


MARRIAGE  AND  DIVORCE 


of  a  writer  who  approves  remarriage  after  divorce  in  any 
case  during  the  lifetime  of  the  separated  partner,  while 
there  are  repeated  and  most  decided  assertions  of  the  prin- 
ciple that  such  marriages  are  unlawful.  .  .  .  No  writer  of 
the  first  three  centuries  is  found  to  advocate  or  admit  the 
remarriage  of  the  innocent  husband.  ...  If  the  voice  of  the 
earliest  Church  is  to  be  heard,  Christian  marriage  is  alto- 
gether indissoluble."  1 

But  it  may  be  asked,  How  then  does  it  happen  that  the 
great  Eastern  Church  ever  since  the  fourth  century  has 
departed  from  this  primitive  rule,  while  the  whole  Western 
Church  with  one  exception,  and  that  our  own,  has  held  it 
fast?  When  the  Roman  Empire  became  nominally  Chris- 
tian in  the  fourth  century,  the  effect  of  the  Church's  teach- 
ing on  civil  legislation,  as  we  might  expect,  could  only  be 
gradual.  In  331  Constantine  by  edict  restricted  the  right 
of  divorce  to  five  grounds,  namely,  murder,  sorcery,  break- 
ing up  of  graves,  acting  as  a  procuress  or  pimp,  and  adul- 
tery.2 The  laws  of  Justianian  (a.d.  534)  effected  other 
improvements  in  the  civil  law,  but  so  low  did  the  popular 
feeling  on  the  subject  remain  that  it  was  most  difficult  for 
the  Church  in  the  East  to  maintain  her  standard.  The 
overshadowing  influence  of  the  court,  which  was  now  trans- 
ferred from  Old  to  New  Rome  (that  is,  Constantinople), 
was  the  chief  cause  of  this  state  of  affairs,  and  the  practical 
result  is  seen  even  today  in  the  loose  marriage  laws  of  the 
Oriental  Churches. 

In  the  Western  Portion  of  the  Empire  things  were 
different.    Here,  after  the  removal  of  the  seat  of  empire, 

1  Holy  Matrimony,  by  Oscar  D.  Watkins,  M.A.,  pp.  222,  225.  Mac- 
millan  and  Co.,  1895.  This  treatise  is  doubtless  the  ablest  and  most  com- 
plete discussion  of  the  subject  in  the  English  language. 

*  Luckock,  History  of  Marriage,  p.  114. 


324  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


the  Churches  of  Italy,  Gaul,  and  Spain  were  left  in  compara- 
tive freedom  from  state  interference,  and  the  high  views 
of  Scripture  in  regard  to  marriage  were  more  easily  enforced, 
so  that  in  789  Charlemagne,  who  nearly  twenty  years 
before  divorced  his  wife  and  married  another,  had  lived  to 
repent  of  his  mistake,  and  enacted  laws  which  brought  the 
civil  code  into  accordance  with  that  of  the  Church.1 

This  was  especially  true  of  that  part  of  the  West  which 
concerns  us  most  closely.  England  and  its  Church  had 
always  occupied  a  peculiar  position  in  Europe.  Within 
a  century  after  the  Empire  became  nominally  Christian 
(a.d.  321),  the  country  ceased  to  be  a  part  of  the  Empire, 
and  the  Church  had  not  to  contend  against  imperial  in- 
fluence. The  battle,  however,  against  the  low  pagan  cus- 
toms of  our  British  and  Anglo-Saxon  forefathers  was  not 
an  easy  one,  and  it  was  not  until  the  beginning  of  the 
eleventh  century  that  the  New  Testament  rule  concern- 
ing marriage  was  fully  accepted  by  the  civil  power.  Par- 
liament had  no  existence  yet  for  two  hundred  years,  but 
Councils  of  the  Church  were  the  parents  of  parliaments 
and  became  their  models.  The  national  Council  of  the 
whole  English  Church,  summoned  by  King  Ethelred  at 
Eanham  in  1009,  and  "composed  not  only  of  Bishops  and 
Abbots,  but  also  of  lay  representatives,"  enacted  that  "it 
should  never  be  allowed  for  a  Christian  to  marry  a  divorced 
woman,  or  to  have  more  wives  than  one,  but  that  he  should 
be  bound  to  her  only  as  long  as  she  lived."  Thus  it 
became  part  of  the  civil  code  of  England. 

During  the  years  that  followed,  the  Bishop  of  Rome 
claimed  with  various  degrees  of  success  to  exercise  an  over- 
lordship  in  the  Church  of  England.  Dispensations  were 
from  time  to  time  sought  and  obtained  from  that  quarter, 

1  Luckock,  History  of  Marriage,  p.  157. 


MARRIAGE  AND  DIVORCE 


but  always  in  direct  opposition  to  the  civil  and  ecclesiasti- 
cal law  of  the  land.  But  no  change  was  made  in  the  national 
law  itself  from  the  Norman  Conquest  until  the  year  1857, 
a  period  of  800  years.  In  the  sixteenth  century  foreign 
reformers  who  had  taken  refuge  in  England,  following 
Luther's  low  teaching  and  practice,  were  strong  advocates 
for  lowering  the  tone  of  the  marriage  laws,  though  in  vain. 
Under  the  Commonwealth,  Selden  and  Milton,  the  latter 
for  interested  reasons,  pleaded  for  laxity,  but  again  in  vain. 
It  was  in  fact  the  refusal  of  the  Presbyterian  Assembly 
to  grant  Milton  their  sanction  for  a  divorce,  even  according 
to  the  already  debased  standard  of  the  Westminster  Confes- 
sion of  that  body,  which  occasioned  his  famous  epigram 
that  "New  presbyter  was  only  old  priest  writ  large."  1  In 
the  sixteenth  century  however  the  custom  was  introduced 
of  obtaining  private  acts  of  Parliament  for  dissolution  of 
marriage,  irrespective  of  the  law  of  the  Church  and  of 
God,  and  this  continued  with  increased  frequency  down  to 
1857.  Then  a  new  civil  court  was  established  "for  Divorce 
and  Matrimonial  Causes,"  but  the  Church's  law  remained 
unchanged.  Thus  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of 
Christian  England  divorce  for  adultery,  incest,  and  other 
unnatural  crimes,  was  freely  allowed  by  the  State.  A 
divorce  granted  for  these  reasons  gave  each  party,  guilty 
and  innocent  alike,  the  right  to  marry  again.2 

The  matrimonial  law  of  England  at  the  time  of  the  Ameri- 
can Revolution  was  the  common  law  of  the  Colonies,  but 
immediately  after  that  event  it  became  subject  to  rapid 
and  most  radical  modification.  A  lower  tone  in  the  relig- 
ious teaching  concerning  marriage,  and  the  abandonment 

1  He  cited  as  a  proper  cause  for  divorce  "inability  for  fit  and  matchable 
conversation." 

*  Luckock,  History  of  Marriage,  pp.  173-178. 


326  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


largely  of  the  old  reverent  marriage  ceremonial  among 
American  Protestants,  had  much  to  do  with  this  change. 
With  one  most  honorable  exception  (South  Carolina, 
which  grants  no  divorce  a  vinculo),  all  the  States  of  the 
American  Union  have  "very  far  gone"  (quam  longissime) 
from  the  "original  righteousness"  of  God's  law  of  marriage.1 
Meanwhile  the  supreme  law  of  the  English,  the  American, 
the  Scottish,  and  the  Irish  Churches  as  set  forth  in  their 
Books  of  Prayer,  remains  true  to  our  Lord's  teaching,  as 
it  has  done  from  the  beginning.  Here  it  is  still  declared 
in  the  Name  and  with  the  authority  of  Christ,  that  mar- 
riage is  indissoluble  "until  death  them  do  part,"  and  that 
"what  God  hath  joined  no  man  must  put  asunder."  What- 
ever departures  from  this  strict  law  have  been  made  through- 
out the  ages  by  national  Churches,  or  local  councils,  or 
individual  Bishops,  under  secular  influences,  or  by  civil  legis- 
latures, the  whole  Catholic  Church  has  never  sanctioned  any 
theory  of  the  indissolubility  of  the  marriage  bond. 

1  Canon  40  of  the  American  Church,  in  flat  contradiction  of  the  supreme 
law  of  her  Prayer  Book  and  of  the  whole  Anglican  Communion,  presumes 
to  allow  "the  innocent  party  in  a  divorce  for  adultery"  to  remarry,  though 
only  after  careful  scrutiny  of  the  facts  by  the  Bishop,  under  legal  advice; 
and  any  Minister  of  the  Church  may  decline  to  officiate.  This  exception 
of  "the  innocent  party"  was  first  made  by  a  resolution  of  the  General  Con- 
vention of  1808,  which  consisted  of  only  two  Bishops,  fourteen  clerical 
and  thirteen  lay  deputies!  It  was  not  until  a  later  Convention  that  it 
was  incorporated  in  the  Canons.  Various  efforts  with  increasing  prospect 
of  success  have  been  made  in  General  Convention  to  remove  this  blot 
on  the  American  code,  and  the  Commission  of  five  Bishops,  five  Priests, 
and  five  Laymen,  appointed  in  1913,  presented  a  report,  with  but  one 
dissentient  voice,  to  the  General  Convention  of  1916  recommending  its 
repeal.  This  was  carried  by  a  large  majority  in  the  clerical  order,  but 
was  rejected  by  a  narrow  majority  of  only  three  and  three-quarters  in 
the  vote  by  lay  diocesan  deputations.  It  was  again,  however,  referred  to 
a  new  commission  to  report  in  19 19. 


MARRIAGE  AND  DIVORCE  327 


Reason  and  experience,  moreover,  as  well  as  Holy  Scrip- 
ture, testify  with  unmistakable  voice  to  the  divine  character 
of  this  law  of  marriage  as  it  was  "from  the  beginning." 
The  law  of  pagan  Rome  in  its  earliest  days  declared 
that  "Marriage  is  the  union  of  a  man  and  woman,  includ- 
ing an  inseparable  association  in  their  life," 1  and  for 
five  hundred  years,  it  is  said,  no  divorce  was  granted  in 
ancient  Rome.  But  when  the  high  religious  sanction  of 
the  primitive  pagan  age  was  withdrawn  in  the  later 
Roman  Empire,  divorce  "for  every  cause,"  or  none,  came 
in  like  a  flood,  and  was  one  of  the  chief  sources  of  its 
political  downfall.2 

We  find  the  same  moral  decadence  taking  place  today 
among  Protestant  peoples  especially,  and  with  swiftly  accel- 
erating descent,  as  the  direct  result  of  the  same  abandon- 
ment of  religious  principle  in  regard  to  marriage.  Luther 
was  one  of  the  earliest  opponents  of  the  Scriptural  and 
Catholic  doctrine  of  marriage.  In  his  famous,  or  rather 
infamous,  sermon  at  Wittenberg  in  1522  he  openly  advocated 
adultery  under  certain  circumstances,  and  advised  Henry 
VIII  not  to  divorce  his  wife  but  to  take  a  second.  Luther 
and  the  Wittenberg  divines,  Melancthon,  Bucer,  and 
five  others,  signed  a  dispensation  giving  Philip  of  Hesse 
permission  to  commit  bigamy,  and  this  "marriage"  actu- 

1  Justinian's  Institutes,  I,  ix,  i;  qu.  by  Dr.  John  Fulton  in  The  Laws 
of  Marriage,  p.  19. 

8  Seneca  tells  us  that  "there  were  women  who  reckoned  their  years 
rather  by  their  husbands  than  by  the  consuls  .  .  .  Martial  speaks  of  a  woman 
who  had  already  arrived  at  her  tenth  husband.  .  .  .  But  the  most  extraor- 
dinary recorded  instance  of  this  kind  is  related  by  S.  Jerome,  who  assures 
us  that  there  existed  at  Rome  a  wife  who  was  married  to  her  twenty-third 
husband,  she  herself  being  his  twenty-first  wife."  Lecky,  European 
Morals,  II,  306-7. 


328  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


ally  took  place  in  presence  of  two  of  the  signers.1  Among 
English  Puritans,  Milton,  in  his  work  on  Doctrine  and  Dis- 
cipline of  Divorce,  allowed  divorce  by  mutual  consent, 
or  even  by  the  desire  for  divorce  of  either  party,  and  the 
"Westminster  Confession  of  Faith," 2  the  standard  of 
Presbyterianism,  declares  wilful  desertion  as  well  as  adul- 
tery to  be  "cause  sufficient  of  dissolving  the  bond  of  mar- 
riage. "  All  this  was  the  evil  seed  that  has  brought  forth 
such  an  abundance  of  bitter  fruit,  especially  in  countries 
where  Protestantism  prevails.3 

Thus  a  hard  experience  is  giving  proof  to  men  and  nations 
who  would  not  listen  to  the  teaching  of  God's  Word  and 
Church,  that  there  is  no  logical  or  possible  stopping  place 

1  See  Prof.  Mozley's  Essays,  I,  401-404;  Hare's  Mission  of  the  Com- 
forter, p.  834;  and  Wirgman's  Foreign  Protestantism  within  the  Church  of 
England,  pp.  25,  sq. 

2  Chap,  xxiv,  v,  vi. 

3  The  following  facts  taken  from  the  latest  Report  on  Marriage  and 
Divorce  (1909)  by  the  United  States  Government  (Part  I,  pp.  12,  13  and 
Chapter  V)  tell  a  sadly  eloquent  story.  In  England  and  Wales  there  were 
in  1867  and  1906  respectively,  130  and  670  divorces;  in  Scotland,  32  and 
202;  in  Ireland,  1  and  6;  in  Canada,  4  and  42;  in  the  United  States, 
9,937  and  72,062;  while  in  the  German  Empire  the  number  more  than 
trebled  between  1881,  the  first  year  of  record,  and  1906,  that  is,  from  3,942 
to  12,180.  In  the  United  States  the  increase  is  at  the  fearful  rate  of  30 
per  cent  every  five  years.  Only  two  or  three  countries  give  statistics 
on  the  religion  of  the  divorced.  In  Russia  in  1866-1885  there  was  1 
divorce  to  642  marriages  among  the  Orthodox;  1  to  152  among  those 
of  the  Evangelical  Augsburg  confession;  and  1  to  70  among  those  of 
the  Evangelical  Reformed.  In  Poland  the  ratio  was  1  to  1258  among 
Roman  Catholics;  1  to  142  among  the  Evangelical  Reformed;  1  to 
309  among  the  Russian  Orthodox;  and  1  to  4  among  those  of  the 
Jewish  faith.  In  1877-1886  the  Jews  had  80.9  per  cent  of  all  the  divorces 
in  Poland.  The  ratio  among  the  Jews  of  Algeria  is  one  divorce  to  18 
marriages. 


MARRIAGE  AND  DIVORCE  329 


in  the  downward  grade,  once  the  indissolubility  of  marriage 
as  taught  by  our  Lord  is  abandoned.  Marriage  becomes 
sooner  or  later  a  mere  social  contract,  "a  scrap  of  paper," 
to  be  kept  or  broken  at  will  by  either  party.  The  only 
practicable  stopping  place  is  where  our  Lord  put  it.  To 
allow  even  adultery  as  ground  for  remarriage  is  only  to  en- 
courage men  and  women  to  sin.  The  inevitable  result  is 
what  has  been  aptly  termed  "tandem  polygamy."  It  is 
a  principle  of  the  common  law  that  "no  man  can  take  ad- 
vantage of  his  own  wrongdoing."  Yet  according  to  much 
modern  legislation,  adultery,  or  even  some  lesser  offence, 
is  all  that  is  necessary  in  order  to  live  in  so-called  "honor- 
able marriage"  with  another.  This  is  the  reductio  ad 
absurdum  to  which  rejection  of  the  high  Scriptural  doc- 
trine of  marriage  inevitably  leads.  It  is  as  if  one  party 
to  some  business  contract  had  only  to  rob  his  partner  in 
order  to  be  free  from  every  legal  and  moral  obligation  to 
him. 

It  follows  also  that  divorce  with  the  right  to  remarry  is 
A  Grievous  Act  of  Cruelty  to  the  greatest  number,  and 
those  who  are  wholly  innocent.  It  is  often  assumed  that 
power  to  separate  is  a  right  possessed  by  those  who  have 
made  rash,  foolish,  or  unfortunate  marriages.  It  is  cruel, 
it  is  said,  not  to  release  them  from  their  evil  plight.  But 
it  is  forgotten  that  in  releasing  those  who  are  alone  respon- 
sible, greater  cruelty  is  practised  against  vastly  greater 
numbers  of  persons  who  are  not  responsible,  parents,  chil- 
dren, brothers,  sisters,  and  other  relatives,  even  against  the 
nation  at  large,  by  means  of  the  shame  and  sorrow,  the 
breaking  up  of  families,  the  encouragement  to  wrong-doing, 
and  the  general  lowering  of  the  moral  standard.  On  the 
other  hand  experience  shows  that  where  no  divorce  a  vinculo 
is  permitted,  as  in  the  State  of  South  Carolina,  or  where 


330  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

it  is  made  most  difficult,  as  in  the  Dominion  of  Canada, 
there  is  greater,  and  not  less,  domestic  happiness.1 

On  the  other  hand  the  assertion  is  frequently  made  that 
where  the  strict  law  of  Christ  is  enforced  "a  general  dis- 
solution of  manners  follows. "  But  even  granting  that 
secret  licentiousness  may  exist  in  such  lands,  it  is  not  to 
be  compared  for  a  moment  with  the  open  licentiousness 
and  the  cruelty  practised  and  encouraged  by  the  "tandem 
polygamy"  of  the  72,062  divorces  granted  in  the  year  1906 
alone  in  the  United  States,  an  increase,  according  to  the 
latest  government  report,  of  30  per  cent  every  five  years. 
It  seems  to  be  overlooked  by  those  who  make  this  objection 
that  the  secret  licentiousness  which  is  kept  in  check  by  law, 
and  dares  not  show  its  face  in  the  open,  is  a  very  different 
condition  from  that  which  is  condoned  by  the  law,  and 
smiled  upon  by  "society,"  and  by  the  indifferent  or  anti- 
Christian  multitude.  Regarded  then  from  the  purely 
practical  or  "pragmatic"  point  of  view,  divorce  with  the 
right  to  remarry  is  a  grievous  blunder  as  well  as  a  breach 
of  the  law  of  Christ.  The  sacrifice  of  the  few  for  the  good 
of  the  many  is  a  primary  principle  of  patriotism  as  well 
as  of  Christianity,  and  to  make  the  many  suffer  for  the  few 
is  a  reversion  to  the  selfishness  of  paganism.  Moreover, 
the  statistics  of  every  land  show  that  the  allowance  of 
remarriage  to  the  so-called  "innocent  party"  is  but  the 
entering   wedge  which   eventually   permits   divorce  and 

1  It  is  true  that  after  the  Civil  War,  during  the  period  of  "Reconstruc- 
tion" (1865-1878),  when  the  State  was  under  the  control  of  ignorant 
negroes,  and  white  politicians  from  the  North  called  "carpet-baggers," 
laws  were  passed  permitting  divorce.  But  when  the  white  people  of  the 
State  obtained  control  in  1878  all  this  legislation  was  annulled,  just  as 
the  Acts  of  the  Commonwealth  Parliament  were  annulled  at  the  restora- 
tion of  Charles  II  in  1660. 


MARRIAGE  AND  DIVORCE  331 


remarriage  "for  every  cause,"  and  undermines  the  whole 
fabric  of  society. 

"It  is  the  little  rift  within  the  lute, 
That  by  and  by  will  make  the  music  mute, 
And  ever  widening  slowly  silence  all."  1  • 

In  view,  therefore,  of  the  terrible  facts  which  the  statistics 
of  the  divorce  courts  present  to  us  it  has  been  well  said: 
—  "Because  of  ' the  hardness  of  men's  hearts'  today,  it 
becomes  more  and  more  needful  to  erect  the  barrier  of 
stern  legislation  against  [instead  of  formerly  and  at  present 
in  encouragement  of]  the  corrupting  tide  of  this  degrading 
tendency."  2 

The  clear  testimony  of  Holy  Scripture  on  this  subject 
may  be  summed  up  as  follows: — (1)  The  exceptive  pre- 
cept of  S.  Matt,  v,  32  and  xix,  9  is  solitary,  and,  according 
to  many  modern  scholars,  of  doubtful  genuineness.  In 
any  case  it  is  absolutely  the  only  passage  that  even  seems 
to  allow  divorce  or  remarriage  for  either  party.  Every 
other  passage  in  the  New  Testament  condemns  remarriage 

1  Tennyson,  Vivien. 

'  Bishop  Doane  of  Albany.  "One  whose  labors  in  the  divorce  court 
make  his  statements  upon  all  questions  pertaining  to  them  of  great  weight 
tells  us  that  in  some  hundreds  of  cases  that  he  has  known  there  has  not 
been  one  instance  when  the  woman  has  procured  the  divorce  that  she  has 
not  almost  immediately  married  again,  and  but  very  few  cases  in  which 
the  man  procured  it  that  he  has  not  done  the  same"  (Laica  in  The  Outlook, 
New  York,  Feb.  22,  1902).  A  pregnant  illustration  of  this  was  told  lately 
to  the  writer  by  a  member  of  his  own  family.  Two  well  dressed  women 
on  a  train  were  overheard  by  her  discussing  a  recent  engagement.  After 
enlarging  on  the  many  virtues  of  the  prospective  bridegroom,  the  woman 
who  made  the  announcement  remarked  in  the  most  casual  manner  that 
there  was  only  one  unfortunate  circumstance.  The  man  had  not  yet 
procured  his  divorce! 


332  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


during  the  lifetime  of  the  other  party,  without  any  qualification 
whatever.1  (2)  Granting  that  the  genuineness  of  the  present 
text  with  the  exceptive  clause  was  recognized  by  the  Church 
in  the  first  three  centuries,  this  fact  makes  it  all  the  more 
striking  that  the  Church  in  those  early  days  saw  in  it,  as  she 
did,  only  an  allowance  for  "putting  away,"  and  stern  con- 
demnation of  marriage  with  the  guilty,  but  no  sanction  what- 
ever of  marriage  with  the  innocent  —  a  most  pregnant  silence 
in  a  matter  of  such  vast  importance. 


1  S.  Mark  x,  11,  12;  S.  Luke  xvi,  18;  Rom.  vii,  2,  3;  1  Cor.  vii,  10,  11. 


CHAPTER  XXXII 


Solemnization  of  Matrimony — The  Office 

"  They  are  no  more  twain,  but  one  flesh.  What  therefore  God  hath  joined 
together,  let  not  man  put  asunder."  —  Our  Lord. 

WE  come  now  to  the  consideration  of  the  Office  itself. 
From  the  earliest  days  of  the  Church  marriage 
has  always  been  solemnized  with  religious  rites.  Being 
an  occasion  of  rejoicing,  since  the  fourth  century  it  has 
been  forbidden  during  Lent,  but  there  is  no  law  in  the 
Anglican  Communion  requiring  this  except  that  of  natural 
propriety.  In  every  respect,  however,  this  Prayer  Book 
Office  differs  less  than  any  other  from  that  of  the  ancient 
Office. 

The  publication  of  Banns  on  three  successive  Sundays  in 
the  Parish  church  was  required  by  the  Sarum  Manual,  as  it 
is  still  in  the  present  Book,  the  object  being  to  guard  against 
clandestine  or  unlawful  unions.  The  form  in  all  the  Books, 
English,  Irish,  Scottish,  and  American,  is  the  same.  If 
the  Banns  are  not  published,  a  licence  is  required  in  Eng- 
land from  the  Bishop,  or  his  representative.1  The  English 
law  as  to  licence,  time,  and  place,  is  very  strict.  The 
62d  Canon  forbids  a  clergyman  under  penalty  of  three 
years'  suspension,  to  marry  any  persons  either  by  Banns 
or  licence  of  the  Bishop,  except  between  the  hours  of  8  and 
12  in  the  morning,  and  in  the  church.  Special  licences, 
however,  may  be  granted  by  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 

1  Bann  is  derived  from  a  barbarous  Latin  word,  bannum,  signifying 
an  edict,  or  proclamation. 


334  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


bury,  which  are  not  subject  to  these  restrictions  of  time 
and  place.1 

The  Place  for  the  Beginning  of  the  Service  in  the 
ancient  rubric  was  "before  the  door  of  the  church"  {ante 
ostium  ecclesiae),  by  which  was  meant  the  porch,  and  not 
the  outside  of  the  church.2  This  was  changed  to  "the 
body  of  the  church/'  that  is,  the  nave,  as  at  present.  The 
beginning  of  the  service  differs  very  little  from  the  Sarum 
Office  either  in  rubrics  or  address.  What  was  originally  a 
fourth  and  final  publication  of  the  Banns  ("If  any  of  you 
can  shew  just  cause  or  impediment,  etc.,"  and  "I  require 
and  charge  you  both,"  etc.)  is  now  lengthened  into  an  in- 
struction as  to  the  meaning  and  solemnity  of  the  occasion. 
In  the  American  Book  that  portion  of  the  address  which 
states  the  three  "causes  for  which  Matrimony  was  or- 
dained" has  been  omitted.  In  the  Scottish  an  alternative 
form  is  provided  giving  two  "chief  causes"  as  follows: 
"It  was  ordained  for  the  increase  of  mankind  according  to 
the  will  of  God,  and  that  children  might  be  brought  up  in 
the  fear  and  nurture  of  the  Lord,  and  to  the  praise  of  His 
holy  Name.  It  was  also  ordained  for  the  mutual  society, 
help,  and  comfort  that  the  one  ought  to  have  of  the  other, 
both  in  prosperity  and  adversity."  3 

1  "These  Special  Licences  were  originally  a  privilege  of  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury  as  'Legatus  natus'  of  the  Pope.  The  right  to  grant  them 
is  confirmed  by  the  Marriage  Act  of  1836."  Blunt,  Ann.  Pr.  Bk.>  p.  262,  note. 

a  "Housbondes  at  the  chirche-dore  have  I  hadde  fyve."  Chaucer, 
Prologue  to  the  Wife  of  Bath's  Tale. 

3  Some  of  the  impediments  to  marriage,  in  addition  to  that  of  a  previous 
marriage  undissolved  by  death,  are  relationship  within  the  prohibited 
degrees  of  "kindred  and  affinity,"  imbecility,  sexual  impotence,  nonage, 
absence  of  consent,  etc.,  as  prescribed  by  Church  and  State  alike.  While 
the  American  Church  has  never  formally  adopted  the  English  Table  of 
Prohibited  Degrees  in  her  Prayer  Book,  the  House  of  Bishops  in  1808 


SOLEMNIZATION  OF  MARRIAGE  335 


The  first  portion  of  the  service  down  to  "the  giving  away" 
of  the  bride,  when  the  father  relinquishes  his  patria  potestas 
into  the  hands  of  the  Church,  that  she  in  her  turn  may  give 
the  bride  to  her  husband,  is  called  the  Espousals,  that  is, 
the  solemn  renewal  of  the  "engagement"  ("I  will")  which 
has  already  been  made  in  private.  This  is  now  usually 
said  in  the  nave,  at  the  entrance  to  the  choir.1  That  which 
follows  is  called  the  Nuptials,  or  Betrothal,  the  actual 
"plighting"  and  giving  of  the  "troth"  each  to  the  other,  as 
a  pledge  of  fidelity  and  "truth."  This  is  the  marriage 
proper,  and  is  said  at  the  chancel  rail. 

The  rubric  directs  that  the  Man  shall  be  "on  the  right 
hand,  and  the  Woman  on  the  left,"  which  is  somewhat 
ambiguous.  The  ancient  Sarum  rubric,  however,  from 
which  this  is  taken,  makes  the  rule  plain,  namely,  that  the 
Man  shall  be  on  the  Woman's  right  (vir  a  dextris  mulieris, 
et  mulier  a  sinistris  viri),  and  not  on  the  right  of  the  Priest. 
This  rule  is  usually  and  fittingly  reversed  in  returning  from 
the  altar,  as  suggested  by  the  words  of  the  beautiful  Mar- 
riage Psalm  of  Solomon,  "Upon  thy  right  hand  did  stand 
the  queen  in  a  vesture  of  gold,"  which  is  prophetical  of 
"the  mystical  union  that  is  betwixt  Christ  and  His  Church," 
"as  a  bride  adorned  for  her  husband."  2 

declared  that  "they  consider  that  table  as  now  obligatory  on  this  Church." 
There  is  a  distinction  between  impediments,  some  being  diriment,  that  is, 
being  contrary  to  the  law  of  nature  and  the  law  of  God.  "They  are  such  as 
not  merely  to  forbid  a  marriage,  but  also  to  make  it  null  and  void,  however 
solemnly  contracted"  (John  Fulton,  The  Laws  of  Marriage,  p.  27).  There 
is  much  difference  in  practice,  however,  about  many  impediments  which 
are  created  only  by  civil  or  ecclesiastical  law.  Marriage  according  to 
these  may  be  forbidden  and  irregular,  and  yet  be  entirely  valid. 

1  As  late  as  the  time  of  Charles  I  there  is  evidence  that  these  Espousals, 
or  "engagement,"  and  the  actual  Nuptials  were  sometimes  separated  by 
years.    See  Blunt,  p.  267,  note. 

*  Opening  Address  in  Marriage  Office,  Ps.  xlv,  10,  and  Rev.  xxi,  2. 


336  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fc?  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

In  the  Vows  the  Letter  "M"  is  a  printer's  mistaken 
emendation  for  "N."  The  letter  "N"  stands  for  the  Chris- 
tian name  both  of  the  Man  and  the  Woman,  and  is  so 
printed  in  the  old  books.  But  the  best  authority  is  for  us- 
ing only  so  much  of  the  baptismal  name  as  is  commonly 
employed.1  A  reference  to  the  original  form  of  the  Vows, 
which  were  of  course  necessarily  in  the  "tongue  understanded 
of  the  people,"  throws  much  light  on  the  much  criticised 
word  "obey."  The  ancient  form  in  the  Salisbury  Manual  is 
"to  be  honour  and  buxum,"  that  is,  gentle  (as  in  debonnaire) 
and  bough-some,  or  pliable.2 

The  Giving  of  a  Ring  to  the  bride  was  probably  in  use 
long  before  the  Christian  era.  We  seem  to  find  a  sugges- 
tion of  it  in  the  gift  of  "a  golden  earring  and  bracelets" 
to  Rebekah  on  behalf  of  Isaac; 3  and  Tertullian  speaks  of 
the  custom  of  a  Roman  husband  "placing  the  pledge  of 
the  nuptial  ring  on  one  finger."4    The  symbolism  of  the 

1  The  late  Queen  of  England  and  her  Consort  were  married  as  Victoria 
and  Albert    (Dean  Hart,  The  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  p.  245). 

2  In  the  York  Manual  the  word  "  buxum  "  does  not  occur  at  all,  and  some 
Manuals  added  "in  all  lawful  places."  See  Blunt,  p.  267.  It  is  to  be 
remembered,  moreover,  that  each  party  promises  undivided  allegiance 
and  love,  and  where  these  exist  submission  to  the  "headship"  of  the  hus- 
band (Eph.  v.  23)  can  never  prove  irksome. 

"Yet  the  light  of  a  whole  life  dies 

When  love  is  done."  —  F.  W.  Bourdillon. 

Bishop  Jeremy  Taylor  has  well  pointed  out  that  nothing  is  said  in  the 
man's  part  of  the  vow  about  "ruling,"  and  he  sums  up  the  whole  matter 
in  a  single  sentence:  "The  man's  authority  is  love,  and  the  woman's  love 
is  obedience."  (Sermon  on  The  Marriage  Ring.)  On  the  only  occasion 
in  the  present  writer's  experience  when  the  bride  objected  to  the  word 
"obey,"  she  was  divorced  within  a  year! 

3  Gen.  xxiv,  22. 

4  Apol.  vi;   De  Idol,  xvi. 


SOLEMNIZATION  OF  MARRIAGE 


ring,  as  having  neither  beginning  nor  ending,  is  plainly 
that  of  eternity  and  constancy,  yet  this  most  natural  em- 
blem was  vigorously  objected  to  by  the  Puritans  with 
"scornful  cavil/'  for  what  good  reason  it  would  be  difficult 
to  say.1  The  English  Book  makes  it  plain  as  to  the  way 
in  which  "the  Man  shall  give  unto  the  Woman"  the  ring 
by  directing  him  to  "lay  the  same  on  the  book  with  the  ac- 
customed duty  [j:hat  is,  the  fee]  to  the  Priest  and  Clerk." 
Though  no  form  is  now  provided  for  the  benediction  of 
the  ring,  it  is  most  seemly  that  at  least  a  silent  blessing 
should  be  said  over  it  at  the  altar.  The  following  beauti- 
ful prayer  is  a  literal  translation  of  the  ancient  Latin  form 
in  the  Sarum  Use:  "Bless,  O  Lord,  this  Ring  which  we 
bless  in  Thy  Name,  that  she  who  wears  it  may  abide  in 
Thy  peace,  continue  in  Thy  favor,  live,  go  on,  and  grow 
old  in  Thy  Love,  and  may  be  increased  with  length  of  days; 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord."  2  In  the  English  Office, 
at  the  placing  of  the  ring,  the  phrase,  "With  my  body  I 
thee  worship,"  was  also  much  objected  to  by  the  Puritans, 
and  at  the  Revision  of  1662  it  was  agreed  that  "honour," 
the  word  used  for  "worship"  in  the  York  and  Hereford 
Uses,  should  be  substituted,  but  either  by  accident,  or  for 
some  other  reason,  the  old  Salisbury  word  was  allowed  to 
remain.  The  two  words  had  originally  the  same  meaning, 
as  they  still  have  in  the  words  "worshipful"  and  "honor- 

1  See  Hooker,  Ecc.  Pol.  v,  lxxiii,  6. 

*  It  was  the  ancient  custom  to  place  the  ring  on  the  thumb  while  saying, 
"In  the  Name  of  the  Father;"  on  the  second  finger  while  saying,  "and  of 
the  Son;"  on  the  third  while  saying,  "and  of  the  Holy  Ghost;"  and  on 
the  fourth  at  "Amen."  This  seems  to  be  one  reason  why  the  fourth  has 
been  made  the  ring  finger.  A  rubric  in  the  Sarum  Office  gives  an  addi- 
tional reason,  namely,  that  a  vein  runs  from  the  fourth  finger  to  the 
heart,  and  while  the  physiology  may  not  be  exact,  the  sentiment  is  un- 
doubtedly sound. 


338  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fc?  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


able,"  and  in  the  expressions,  "Your  worship"  and  "Your 
honour,"  addressed  to  magistrates.  The  phrase  has  been 
omitted  from  the  American  Prayer  Book.  The  root  mean- 
ing of  "worship"  is  of  course  worth-ship. 

The  American  Book  inserts  the  Lord's  Prayer  here  be- 
fore the  prayer,  "O  Eternal  God,  Creator,"  etc.,  which  is 
formed  from  the  two  prayers  formerly  said  at  the  blessing  of 
the  ring.  It  may  seem  strange  that  Isaac  and  Rebecca 
should  be  chosen  as  examples  for  the  newly  married.  The 
reason  evidently  is  that,  under  the  old  dispensation,  they 
were  almost  the  only  pair  who  most  nearly  fulfilled  the  Chris- 
tian ideal  of  marriage,  most  of  the  patriarchs  in  those  early 
ages  being  polygamists.  Chaucer  in  1388  alludes  to  this 
prayer  in  the  Merchant's  Tale:  — 

"But  finally  y-comen  is  the  day 
That  to  the  churche  bothe  be  they  went, 
For  to  receive  the  holy  sacrament. 
Forth  came  the  priest  with  stole  about  his  neck, 
And  bade  her  be  like  Sarah  and  Rebecc, 
In  wisdom  and  in  truth  of  marriage." 

The  Nuptials  in  all  the  Books  of  the  Anglican  Com- 
munion end  with  the  Joining  of  Hands  of  the  couple  by 
the  Priest,  as  he  says  our  Lord's  words,  "Those  whom 
God  hath  joined  together,"  etc.,  the  Declaration  ("I  pro- 
nounce," etc.),  and  the  Blessing.  This  last  is  almost  word 
for  word  the  same  as  that  in  the  ancient  Sarum  Use. 

The  American  Church  has  omitted  the  remaining  por- 
tion of  the  service  in  the  English  Book.  Concerning  the 
right  of  a  Deacon  in  this  Church  to  read  the  service,  Dean 
Hart  has  this  to  say:  —  "The  law  of  the  land  recognizes 
the  Deacons  of  our  Church  as  *  Ministers  of  the  Gospel,' 
and  permits  them  to  marry;  and  our  service  uses  the  word 
'Minister*  throughout,  and  that  intentionally,  as  the  English 


SOLEMNIZATION  OF  MARRIAGE 


Book  has  confusedly  'Priest,'  Curate/  and  'Minister/ 
But  the  Benediction  is  priestly,  and  evidently  ought  not 
to  be  said  by  a  Deacon.  It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  a 
Deacon  may  use  the  Marriage  Service,  in  any  place  where 
he  has  the  Bishop's  or  Priest's  authority  to  minister;  but 
that  he  should  substitute  'The  grace  of  our  Lord,'  or  some 
other  prayer,  for  the  Benediction."  1 

In  the  English,  Scottish,  and  Irish  Books  appropriate 
prayers,  mainly  from  the  ancient  Office,  with  Ps.  cxxviii, 
or  lxvii,  and  a  formal  Address  to  all  present  ("if  there  be 
no  sermon")  2  are  intended  to  lead  on  to  the  Holy  Com- 
munion, "the  Minister  or  Clerks  going  to  the  Lord's  Table" 
(Rubric).  The  Book  of  1549  had  the  rubric,  "The  new- 
married  persons,  the  same  day  of  their  Marriage,  must 
receive  the  Holy  Communion."  This  was  wisely  changed 
in  1661  to  "It  is  convenient  [that  is,  fit  or  seemly]  that  the 
new-married  persons  should  receive  the  Holy  Communion 
at  the  time  of  their  Marriage,  or  at  the  first  opportunity 
after  their  Marriage." 

Concerning  this  rule  of  the  Church  Hooker  has  these 
wise  words:  —  "To  end  the  public  solemnity  of  marriage 
with  receiving  the  blessed  Sacrament  is  a  custom  so  relig- 
ious and  so  holy,  that  if  the  Church  of  England  be  blame- 
able  in  this  respect  it  is  not  for  suffering  it  to  be  so  much, 
but  rather  for  not  providing  that  it  may  be  more  put  in 
ure  [that  is,  in  use].  The  laws  of  Romulus  concerning 
marriage  are  therefore  extolled  above  the  rest  amongst 
the  heathens  which  were  before,  in  that  they  established 
the  use  of  certain  special  solemnities,  whereby  the  minds 
of  men  were  drawn  to  make  the  greater  conscience  of  wed- 

1  The  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  p.  248. 

1  It  is  in  reference  to  the  last  word  in  this  Address  that  Dickens  makes 
Captain  Cuttle  say  that  the  service  ends  with  "amazement." 


34o  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


lock,  and  to  esteem  the  bond  thereof  a  thing  which  could 
not  be  without  impiety  dissolved.  If  there  be  anything 
in  Christian  religion  strong  and  effectual  to  like  purpose 
it  is  the  Sacrament  of  the  Holy  Eucharist,  in  regard  of  the 
force  whereof  Tertullian  breaketh  out  into  these  words 
concerning  matrimony  therewith  sealed;  'I  know  not  which 
way  I  should  be  able  to  shew  the  happiness  of  that  wed- 
lock the  knot  whereof  the  Church  doth  fasten,  and  the 
Sacrament  of  the  Church  confirm.'"1 

The  Scottish  Church  alone  has  provided  a  special  Collect, 
Epistle,  and  Gospel  for  a  Marriage  Eucharist.  The  Col- 
lect, taken  chiefly  from  the  final  blessing  of  the  ancient 
service,  is  as  follows:  —  "O  Heavenly  Father  who  didst 
join  together  in  marriage  our  first  parents,  Adam  and  Eve: 
Sanctify  and  bless  these  Thy  servants;  and  grant  that  those 
whom  Thou  by  matrimony  dost  make  one,  may  sted- 
fastly  keep  the  covenant  betwixt  them  made,  and  ever 
remain  in  perfect  love  and  peace  together;  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord."  The  Epistle  is  Eph.  v,  25  to  the  end; 
the  Gospel,  S.  Matt,  xix,  4,  5,  6. 

1  Ecc.  Pol.  V,  lxxiii,  8. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 
Visitation  and  Communion  of  the  Sick 

"  Then  spreads  she  there  an  altar  lone; 
Her  priest,  to  bless  and  break,  is  there, 
And  angels,  radiant  from  the  throne, 

Come  winging  round  the  scene  of  prayer"  —  Bishop  Coxe. 

THE  Visitation  of  the  Sick,  being  an  essential  duty 
of  all  who  have  the  cure  of  souls,  as  declared  in  their 
ordination  vow,  scarcely  needs  the  specific  authority  of 
Holy  Scripture.  Such  authority,  however,  is  found,  not 
only  in  the  example  of  our  Lord  and  His  Apostles,1  but  also 
in  the  express  injunction  of  S.  James.2  The  service  as  we 
possess  it  today  is  mainly  taken  from  that  of  the  old  Sarum 
Use.  The  ancient  Office  prescribed  the  seven  penitential 
Psalms  to  be  said  by  the  Priest  on  his  way  to  the  sick  man's 
house.  Then  followed  the  salutation,  "Peace  be  to  this 
house,"  etc.,  as  in  our  present  Office,  for  which  we  have  the 
express  authority  of  our  Lord.3  The  rubric  does  not  seem 
to  make  it  necessary  that  this  should  be  said  immediately 
on  entering  the  house,  but  it  should  never  be  omitted  in 
beginning  the  Office,  or  any  portion  of  it.  Its  utterance 
makes  it  known  in  the  most  modest,  yet  most  impressive 
way  to  the  ears  of  both  sick  and  well,  that  this  is  no  mere 
friendly  or  neighborly  visit,  but  that  of  one  who  comes  as 
the  ambassador  of  Him  who  of  old  went  about  healing  the 
sick,  and  manifesting  Himself  as  the  God  of  peace  and  the 


1  S.  Mark  vi,  7-14;  xvi,  18;  Acts  v,  15,  16;  ix,  17;  xxviii,  8. 

2  v,  14,  iS.  3  s.  Luke  x,  5,  6. 


342   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


Lord  of  all  life.  Though  not  prescribed,  it  is  a  most  fitting 
custom  to  raise  the  right  hand  as  in  the  act  of  benediction 
while  reciting  the  salutation. 

The  versicles  and  the  two  prayers  following  are  trans- 
lations, with  slight  changes,  from  the  ancient  Office.  So 
also  are  the  exhortations,  the  examination  in  regard  to  be- 
lief, the  confession  and  absolution.  The  rubric,  and  the 
form  of  absolution  in  the  English  Book  following  the  rubric 
about  being  "liberal  to  the  poor,"  are  as  follows:  — 

"Here  shall  the  sick  person  he  moved  to  make  a  special 
confession  of  his  sins,  if  he  feel  his  conscience  troubled  with 
any  weighty  matter.  After  which  Confession,  the  Priest 
shall  absolve  him  (if  he  humbly  and  heartily  desire  it)  after 
this  sort. 

"  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  hath  left  power  to  his  Church 
to  absolve  all  sinners  who  truly  repent  and  believe  in  Him, 
of  His  great  mercy  forgive  thee  thine  offences:  And  by  His 
authority  committed  to  me,  I  absolve  thee  from  all  thy  sins, 
In  the  Name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Amen.,, 

It  will  be  observed  that  all  this  is  voluntary  on  the  part 
of  the  sick  person,  and  is  in  full  accordance  with  what  is 
prescribed  for  the  well  in  the  first  Exhortation  in  the  Com- 
munion Office.  The  indicative  form  of  absolution  in  the 
English  Office  ("I  absolve  thee")  was  the  custom  of  the 
mediaeval  Church,  but  is  without  primitive  precedent.  It 
was  not  used  in  fact  before  the  12th  or  13th  century.1  While 
acknowledging  its  late  use,  Bingham  says  concerning  this  in- 
dicative form,  "It  must  needs  be  of  considerable  weight  and 
moment  towards  the  satisfaction  and  comfort  of  an  afflicted, 
or  a  doubting  and  despondent  soul,  to  have  the  declara- 


1  See  Bingham,  Antiq.  XIX,  ii,  5,  6;  Hooker,  Ecc.  Pol.  VI,  iv,  15. 


VISITATION  OF  THE  SICK 


tion  of  a  skillful  physician  to  rely  upon;  and  to  have  one, 
who  by  his  office  is  qualified  to  be  a  proper  judge  in  such 
cases,  to  pronounce  his  absolution. " 1  The  collect  that 
follows,  "O  most  merciful  God,"  has  been  in  use  in  the 
Church  since  the  days  of  Gelasius  (5th  century).  This  is 
followed  in  the  English  Book  by  Psalm  lxxi,  with  its  Anti- 
phon,  "O  Saviour  of  the  wTorld,"  etc.,  "The  Almighty 
Lord,  who  is  a  most  strong  tower,"  etc.,  and  the  Aaronic 
benediction,"  "Unto  God's  gracious  mercy,"  etc.  2 

It  is  at  this  point  in  the  Book  of  1549  that  provision  is 
made  for  the  Anointing  of  the  Sick  in  the  following 
rubric  and  prayer  — 

"//  the  sick  person  desire  to  be  anointed,  then  shall  the 
Priest  anoint  him  upon  the  forehead  or  breast  only,  mak- 
ing the  sign  of  the  Cross,  saying  thus, 

"As  with  this  visible  oil  thy  body  outwardly  is  anointed, 
so  our  heavenly  Father,  Almighty  God,  grant  of  infinite 
goodness  that  thy  soul  inwardly  may  be  anointed  with 
the  Holy  Ghost,  who  is  the  Spirit  of  all  strength,  comfort, 
relief,  and  gladness.  And  vouchsafe  for  His  great  mercy  (if 
it  be  His  blessed  will)  to  restore  unto  thee  thy  bodily  health 
and  strength,  to  serve  Him;  and  send  thee  release  of  all 
thy  pains,  troubles,  and  diseases,  both  in  body  and  mind. 
And  howsoever  His  goodness  (by  His  divine  and  unsearch- 
able Providence)  shall  dispose  of  thee;  we  His  unworthy 
Ministers  and  servants,  humbly  beseech  the  eternal  Majesty 
to  do  with  thee  according  to  the  multitude  of  His  innumer- 
able mercies,  and  to  pardon  thee  all  thy  sins  and  offences 
committed  by  all  thy  bodily  senses,  passions,  and  carnal  afFec- 

1  Antiq.y  Appendix,  Sermon  I. 

1  Num.  vi,  24,  25,  26.  "This  Antiphon  is  extremely  interesting  as 
being  the  only  one  retained  in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer;  and  as  still 
showing  the  manner  in  which  Antiphons  were  formerly  appended  to  Psalms 
for  the  purpose  of  drawing  out  their  spiritual  meaning,  or  giving  them  the 
turn  required  for  the  special  occasion  on  which  they  were  used."  Blunt, 
Ann.  Pr.  Bk.,  p.  286. 


344  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

tions;  who  also  vouchsafe  mercifully  to  grant  unto  thee 
ghostly  strength,  by  His  Holy  Spirit,  to  withstand  and  over- 
come all  temptations  and  assaults  of  thine  adversary,  that 
in  no  wise  he  prevail  against  thee;  but  that  thou  mayest 
have  perfect  victory  and  triumph  against  the  devil,  sin,  and 
death;  through  Christ  our  Lord:  who  by  His  death  hath 
overcome  the  prince  of  death;  and  with  the  Father  and 
the  Holy  Ghost  evermore  liveth  and  reigneth  God,  world 
without  end.  Amen." 

The  Office  of  1549  closed  with  Psalm  xiii,  "How  long 
wilt  Thou  forget  me?"  This  service  for  the  Unction  of 
the  sick  was  omitted  in  1552,  and  four  special  prayers  were 
added  in  later  revisions.1 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  Apostles,  under  our  Lord's 
direction,  "anointed  with  oil  many  that  were  sick,"  2  and 
that  S.  James  gives  the  specific  injunction  to  "the  Pres- 
byters of  the  Church"  to  pray  over  the  sick,  "anointing 
him  with  oil  in  the  Name  of  the  Lord,"  3  it  seems  passing 
strange  that  this  service,  so  simple  and  so  thoroughly  scrip- 
tural, should  never  have  been  restored  in  later  revisions. 
Probably  the  omission  in  1552  under  foreign  Protestant 
influence  was  largely  owing  to  their  unreasoning  prejudice 
against  anything  that  seemed  at  all  sacramental,  and  also 
because  of  the  perversion  of  the  primitive  custom  which  had 
come  to  be  used  only  at  the  imminent  approach  of  death, 
and  for  that  reason  was  called,  as  it  is  still  in  the  Roman 
communion,  Extreme  Unction.  But  such  rejection  of  what 
is  plainly  an  Apostolic  practice  for  restoration  of  health  to 
body  and  soul  alike,  can  have  no  ground  in  reason.  It  is 
to  be  feared  moreover  that  its  omission  has  had  some- 


1  The  mediaeval  office  for  the  Anointing  of  the  Sick  was  a  much  more 
elaborate  one.    See  Maskell,  I,  83-103. 
*  S.  Mark  vi,  13.  8  v,  14. 


VISITATION  OF  THE  SICK 


thing  to  do,  by  reaction,  with  the  rise  of  such  modern 
fanaticisms  as  "Christian  Science,"  and  "Faith  Healing." 

The  true  balance  between  the  spiritual  and  the  bodily 
physician  is  beautifully  and  accurately  expressed  by  the 
wise  author  of  Ecclesiasticus:  —  "My  son,  in  thy  sickness 
be  not  negligent;  but  pray  unto  the  Lord,  and  He  will 
make  thee  whole.  .  .  .  Then  give  place  to  the  physician,  for 
the  Lord  hath  created  him."  1  Many  eminent  physicians 
have  of  late  borne  witness  to  the  wonderful  influence  of 
prayer  merely  as  a  mental  sedative,  in  the  restoration  of 
bodily  health.  This  is  doubtless  part,  though  by  no  means 
all,  of  what  is  claimed  by  S.  James  when  he  says,  "The  prayer 
of  faith  shall  save  the  sick."  2  Nothing  is  said  about  any 
miraculous  effect  of  the  oil.  It  is  only  an  appropriate  sym- 
bol meant  to  aid  the  faith  of  the  patient.  To  many  in  the 
Church  today  it  seems  that  the  only  rubric  required  for  its 
use  is  this  very  definite  one  of  S.  James.  The  Book  of  1549 
gives  a  suitable  Office  for  the  purpose,  though  it  may  be 
regarded  as  capable  of  improvement.3 

The  American  Office  for  Visitation  of  the  Sick 
is  the  same  as  the  English  with  the  following  exceptions: 

(1)  The  omission  of  the  rubric  providing  for  "a  special  con- 
fession," and  the  indicative  form  of  absolution  following; 

(2)  the  substitution  of  Ps.  cxxx,  for  Ps.  lxxi;  (3)  the  addition 
of  two  rubrics  in  regard  to  the  use  of  other  prayers  in  the 
Book:  (4)  and  the  addition  of  three  new  prayers,  (a)  "On 
behalf  of  all  present,"  the  beautiful  prayer  of  Bishop 
Jeremy  Taylor,  "O  God,  whose  days  are  without  end," 

1  xxxviii,  9,  12.  2  v,  15. 

*  The  Lambeth  Conference  of  1908  decided  not  to  recommend  the 
Unction  of  the  Sick,  but  to  allow  its  use,  expressing  the  hope  that  the  other 
apostolic  act  for  helping  the  sick,  the  Laying  on  of  Hands,  might  be  used 
as  an  accompaniment  to  prayer. 


346   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

(b)  "In  case  of  immediate  danger,"  (c)  "Thanksgiving  for 
the  beginning  of  a  recovery." 

The  Scottish  Office  differs  from  the  English  only  in 
the  addition  of  a  brief  prayer  "for  the  recovery  of  a  sick 
person."  The  Irish  Office,  as  revised  in  1877,  differs 
only  from  the  English  in  changing  the  rubric  concerning 
"a  special  confession"  so  as  to  read,  "Here,  if  the  sick 
person  feel  his  conscience  troubled  with  any  weighty  matter, 
he  shall  be  moved  to  open  his  grief,  after  which  (if  he 
humbly  and  heartily  desire  it)  the  Minister  shall  say 
thus":  namely,  the  Absolution  in  the  Office  for  Holy 
Communion. 

While  it  is  undoubtedly  well  to  have  a  set  form  as  a  guide 
for  the  Visitation  of  the  Sick,  and  occasionally  to  follow  it 
with  tolerable  accuracy,  much  liberty  must  be  left  to  each 
physician  of  souls,  dealing  necessarily  with  most  diverse 
cases  and  circumstances.  The  use  of  a  collection  of  other 
prayers,  and  even  of  extemporaneous  prayer,  will  some- 
times be  found  a  necessity.  There  is  no  Office  in  the  Prayer 
Book  which  so  tests  and  shows  the  character  of  the  true, 
fatherly,  and  sympathetic  Priest  as  this.1  Quietness, 
gentleness,  and  reverence  are  some  of  the  outward  signs 
that  must  never  be  absent.  It  is  probably  the  lack  of  such 
qualities  in  many  that  has  caused  some  physicians  to  tell 
relatives  of  the  sick  person  not  to  allow  a  clergyman  to 
see  the  patient. 

The  Office  for  the  Communion  of  the  Sick  in  the 
American,  Scottish,  and  Irish  Books  varies  in  no  material 
point  from  the  English.  The  slight  differences  to  be  noted 
in  the  American  Book  are  (1)  the  use  of  "Minister"  for 
"Priest,"  as  it  is  frequently  used  in  other  parts  of  all  the 
Books  to  indicate  the  Priest  who  has  the  charge  of  a  parish. 

1  See  2  Cor.  vi,  6. 


VISITATION  OF  THE  SICK  347 


(2)  The  permission,  "In  the  times  of  contagious  sickness  or 
disease,  or  when  extreme  weakness  renders  it  expedient"  to 
abbreviate  the  service  by  using  only  "The  Confession  and 
the  Absolution;  Lift  up  your  hearts,  etc.,  through  the  Sanc- 
tus;  The  Prayer  of  Consecration,  ending  with  these  words, 
partakers  of  His  most  blessed  Body  and  Blood;  The  Com- 
munion: The  Lord's  Prayer;  The  Blessing."  (3)  Permis- 
sion to  use  "with  aged  and  bedridden  persons,  or  such  as  are 
not  able  to  attend  the  public  Ministration  in  Church,"  the 
Collect,  Epistle,  and  Gospel  for  the  Day,  instead  of  those 
appointed  in  the  Office.  The  Irish  Book  gives  practically 
the  same  permission  as  in  the  last  two  cases.  Concerning 
reservation  of  the  Sacrament  for  the  sick  see  chap,  xx, 
pp.  197  sq. 

Some  things  worthy  of  note  in  all  the  Books  are  (1) 
that  the  Clergy  "shall  diligently  from  time  to  time  exhort 
their  parishioners  to  the  often  receiving  of  the  Holy  Com- 
munion of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  our  Saviour  Christ. " 
It  is  to  be  feared  that  this  injunction  is  not  always  obeyed 
as  it  ought  to  be.  The  monthly  use  of  the  long  Exhorta- 
tion can  scarcely  be  said  to  be  a  compliance  with  it,  inas- 
much as,  in  accordance  with  a  common  and  unauthorized 
custom,  the  people  who  really  need  it  have  already  left  the 
Church.  (2)  The  use  of  the  word  "communicate,"  and  the 
total  absence  of  the  word  "commune"  which  expresses 
the  thought  of  a  mere  mental  act,  and  not  that  oneness 
wrought  by  a  faithful  reception  whereby  "we  dwell  in 
Christ,  and  He  in  us."  1 

The  Office  for  a  private  celebration  in  the  Book  of  1549 
begins  with  the  117th  Psalm,  the  three-fold  Kyrie,  "The 
Lord  be  with  you,"  etc.,  and  the  Collect,  Epistle,  and  Gos- 
pel, as  in  our  present  service.    The  rubrics  of  the  present 

1  Prayer  of  Humble  Access. 


348   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

Book,  with  the  exception  of  that  for  reservation,  are  taken 
almost  without  change  from  this  first  revised  Book.1 

1  If  any  one  should  infer  from  the  rubric  concerning  what  is  to  be  said 
to  those  who  "by  reason  of  extremity  of  sickness,  or  other  just  impedi- 
ment, do  not  receive  the  Sacrament  of  Christ's  Body  and  Blood,"  that 
actual  reception  is  of  only  minor  importance,  he  must  remember  that 
exactly  the  same  direction  existed  in  the  ancient  Sarum  and  York  Offices. 
In  each  of  these,  when  the  highest  views  were  held  concerning  the  neces- 
sity of  the  Sacrament,  the  words  of  S.  Augustine  are  directed  to  be  said 
to  every  such  penitent,  "Only  believe,  and  thou  hast  eaten"  (Tantum 
credey  et  manducasti).    Compare  2  Cor.  viii,  12  for  the  principle  involved. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV 


Burial  of  the  Dead 

"  Our  mother  the  Church  hath  never  a  child 
To  honor  before  the  rest, 
But  she  singeth  the  same  for  mighty  kings 

And  the  veriest  babe  on  her  breast; 
And  the  Bishop  goes  down  to  his  narrow  bed 

As  the  ploughman  s  child  is  laid, 
And  alike  she  blesseth  the  dark-browed  serf 
And  the  chief  in  his  robe  arrayed" 

—  Bishop  A.  C.  Coxe,  Christian  Ballads. 

THE  custom  of  the  Christian  Church  from  the  beginning 
in  regard  to  Burial  of  the  Dead  has  been  the  same 
as  that  of  God's  ancient  Church,  which  was  her  shadow. 
The  Patriarchs  and  the  Jewish  people  through  all  their 
history  had  reverently  buried  their  dead  in  the  earth,  or 
in  a  sepulchre  like  that  in  Joseph's  garden  where  our  Lord 
was  laid.  The  heathen  around  them  frequently  burnt 
their  dead  bodies.  The  Christian  Church  has,  above  Jew 
or  heathen,  a  special  reason  for  treating  the  bodies  of  her 
dead  with  great  care  and  respect,  for  she  knows  that  the 
body  has  been  redeemed  as  well  as  the  soul,1  and  that  the 
body  of  every  Christian  was  grafted  into  the  sacred  Body 
of  Christ,  made  a  "member  of  His  Body,  of  His  Flesh, 
and  of  His  Bones."  2  Even  the  bodies  of  Christians  who 
have  died  in  sin,  as  Ananias  and  Sapphira,  are  reverently 
carried  to  a  grave  and  buried.3 

1  Eph.  v,  23;  1  Thess.  v,  23. 
'  Eph.  v,  30. 

3  Acts  v,  10;  and  see  Bingham,  Antiq.  XXIII,  chaps.  2  and  3. 


350   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fc?  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

It  does  not  follow,  however,  that  cremation  or  incinera- 
tion must  necessarily  be  regarded  as  un-Christian.  By 
some  the  utmost  reverence  may  be  felt  for  one  whose  body, 
thus  united  to  Christ,  is  returned  to  its  native  dust  by  a 
more  rapid  process.  By  others  the  process  may  be  felt  to 
be  unnatural  and  shocking.  No  question  of  principle  is 
involved.  The  power  of  Christ  to  raise  the  dead  body 
remains  the  same  in  either  case.  It  is  natural,  however, 
that  the  preference  of  the  Church  should  always  remain 
for  that  method  which  is  most  like  her  Lord's.1 

The  mediaeval  services  for  burial  were  very  elaborate. 
They  included  (i)  the  Commendation,  consisting  largely  of 
prayers  for  the  departed,  said  at  the  house,  and  on  the  way 
to  the  church,  or  the  grave;  (2)  the  Inhumation,  or  Burial; 
(3)  the  Mass  for  the  Dead;  (4)  the  Dirge  and  Placebo,  the 
office  used  throughout  the  month.2 

A  simplification  of  these  many  and  elaborate  services  be- 
came a  great  necessity,  especially  as  regards  the  prayers. 
In  all  the  ancient  Liturgies  prayers  for  the  faithful  departed 
were  for  their  peace  and  rest  in  Paradise,  and  for  a  joyful 
resurrection.  [See  pp.  65  and  163.]  In  the  mediaeval 
Offices  they  had  become  prayers  for  deliverance  from  a 
Purgatory  which  only  differed  from  the  final  Gehenna  in 
that  its  pains  were  not  eternal.  In  1549  these  complicated 
services  were  reduced  to  the  following:  — 

1  In  view  of  the  reverent  custom  of  the  Church  in  all  ages,  it  is  passing 
strange  to  find  the  Puritans  in  the  seventeenth  century  forbidding  the 
use  of  any  kind  of  service  at  the  burial  of  the  dead. 

2  The  former  word,  applied  to  the  Matins  of  the  Office,  was  derived  from 
the  first  word  of  the  Latin  Antiphon,  Dirige  in  conspectu  tuo  viam  meant, 
"Make  my  way  plain,"  etc.,  from  the  Psalm  used  in  this  service  (v,  8). 
The  Vespers  was  called  Placebo  for  a  similar  reason,  Placebo  Domino, 
"I  will  walk  before  the  Lord,"  etc.,  from  Ps.  cxvi,  9,  but  in  the  Vulgate, 
Psalm  cxiv,  9. 


BURIAL  OF  THE  DEAD  351 

(1)  The  same  sentences  as  in  the  present  Book,  "said 
or  sung,"  on  the  way  from  "the  Church  stile,"  either  to  the 
grave  or  to  the  church. 

(2)  If  to  the  Church,  Psalms  cxvi,  cxxxix,  and  cxlvi 
follow. 

(3)  The  Lesson  from  1  Cor.  xv. 

(4)  The  Minor  Litany,  "Lord,  have  mercy,"  etc.,  and 
the  Lord's  Prayer. 

(5)  Four  Versicles  with  their  Responses,  beginning  with, 
"Enter  not  into  judgment,"  etc.,  followed  by  the  present 
prayer,  "O  Lord,  with  whom  do  live,"  etc.,  down  to  "joy  and 
felicity,"  petitions  for  the  departed  that  his  sins  "be  not 
imputed  unto  him,"  that  he  "may  ever  dwell  in  the  region 
of  light,"  and  at  the  general  Resurrection  he  may  hear  those 
"most  sweet  and  comfortable  words;  'Come  unto  Me,  ye 
blessed,'"  etc.,  as  in  our  present  concluding  prayer;  then 
"The  grace,"  etc. 

(6)  The  service  at  the  grave,  which  may  be  said  either 
before  or  after  the  service  in  church,  consists  of  the  sentences, 
"said  or  sung,"  beginning,  "Man  that  is  born,"  etc.,  the 
Committal  substantially  as  at  present,  but  commencing 
with  "I  commend  thy  soul  to  God,  the  Father  Almighty, 
and  thy  body  to  the  ground";  "I  heard  a  voice,"  etc., 
ending  with  two  prayers. 

Though  changes  were  made  in  1552,  the  service  did  not 
reach  its  present  form  until  the  revision  of  1662,  when 
Psalms  xxxix,  and  xc,  were  substituted  for  cxvi,  cxxxix, 
and  cxlvi.  The  last  two  prayers  of  the  Office  are  new, 
but  the  great  bulk  of  the  service  is  found  in  the  ancient 
Use.  This  is  true  of  the  two  opening  sentences,  "I  am  the 
Resurrection,"  etc.,  and  "I  know  that  my  Redeemer,"  etc.; 
the  Lesson  from  1  Cor.  xv;  the  noble  Anthem  or  Sequence, 
Media  vita,  beginning,  "Man  that  is  born,"  etc.; 1  the  Com- 

1  It  should  be  noted  that  the  Anthem,  "Man  that  is  born,"  etc.,  is 
directed  to  be  said,  not  when,  but  "while  the  corpse  is  made  ready,"  etc., 
and  with  a  definite  purpose.    This  is  the  moment  most  trying  to  natural 


352   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


mittal;  "I  heard  a  voice,"  etc.;  the  Minor  Litany,  and  the 
Lord's  Prayer.  The  custom  of  casting  earth  upon  the 
body,  which  the  ancient  rubric  required  should  be  done  ad 
modum  cruris,  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  was  continued.  The 
most  marked  difference  is  the  absence  of  any  direct  prayer 
for  the  faithful  departed,  such  as  is  found  in  all  the  ancient 
Liturgies. 

"The  original  composition  of  the  Media  Vita  is  traced 
back  to  Notker,  to  whom  that  of  the  Dies  Irae  can  be  traced, 
and  who  was  a  monk  of  S.  Gall,  in  Switzerland,  at  the  close 
of  the  ninth  century.  It  is  said  to  have  been  suggested  to 
him  by  a  circumstance  similar  to  that  which  gave  birth  to 
a  noble  passage  in  Shakespeare.1  As  our  English  poet 
watched  the  samphire  gatherers  on  the  cliffs  at  Dover,  so 
did  Notker  watch  those  on  the  rocks  at  S.  Gall.  And  as 
he  watched  them  at  their  'dreadful  trade/  he  sang,  'In 
the  midst  of  life  we  are  in  death/  moulding  his  awful  hymn 
to  that  familiar  form  of  the  Trisagion,  'Holy  God,  Holy 
and  Mighty,  Holy  and  Immortal,  have  mercy  upon  us/ 
which  is  found  in  the  primitive  Liturgies.  In  the  Mid- 
dle Ages  it  was  adopted  as  a  Dirge  on  all  melancholy 
occasions  in  Germany:  armies  used  it  as  a  battle  song; 
and  superstitious  ideas  of  its  miraculous  power  rose  to  such 
a  height,  that,  in  the  year  13 16,  the  Synod  of  Cologne 
forbad  the  people  to  sing  it  at  all  except  on  such  occasions 
as  were  allowed  by  their  Bishop/'  2 

affection,  when  the  body  is  to  be  laid  in  the  grave,  and  the  slowly  uttered 
words  of  this  Sequence  are  most  needed  for  the  comfort  and  support  of 
the  mourners. 

1  Lear  iv,  6. 

2  Blunt,  Ann.  Pr.  Bk.f  p.  297,  note.  While  we  have  in  the  Media  Vita 
a  needful  reminder  of  "the  shortness  and  uncertainty  of  human  life,' 
by  the  reversal  of  the  order  of  the  words  we  get  a  most  consoling  Christian 
truth.    It  is  said  that  the  late  Archbishop  Benson  of  Canterbury  placed 


BURIAL  OF  THE  DEAD  353 


The  American  Office  throughout  is  almost  identical 
with  the  English  except  in  the  following  minor  points:  — 
In  the  first  rubric,  "any  that  die  unbaptized"  is  changed 
to  "any  unbaptized  adults";  the  two  Psalms,  xxxix,  and 
xc,  have  been  abbreviated;  in  the  Committal,  "dear 
brother"  becomes  "deceased  brother";  and  "in  sure  and 
certain  hope  of  the  Resurrection  to  eternal  life,  through, 
etc.,  who  shall  change,"  etc.,  becomes  "looking  for  the 
general  Resurrection  in  the  last  day,  and  the  life  of  the 
world  to  come,  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  at  whose 
second  coming  in  glorious  majesty  to  judge  the  world,  the 
earth  and  the  sea  shall  give  up  their  dead;  and  the  corrup- 
tible bodies  of  those  who  sleep  in  Him  shall  be  changed, 
and  made  like,"  etc.  There  are  also  a  few  verbal  changes 
in  the  last  two  prayers,  and  the  words  of  the  Committal 
when  the  burial  is  at  sea  are  printed  here.  Three  prayers 
were  added  in  1892  for  occasional  use,  the  last  being  part 
of  the  prayer  "for  the  whole  state  of  Christ's  Church"  in 
the  Book  of  1549. 

The  Irish  Office  of  1877  permits  an  abbreviated  ser- 
vice for  unbaptized  Infants,  and  others  who,  "at  the  time 
of  their  death,  were  prepared  for  or  desirous  of  Baptism." 
It  also  changes  the  English  rubric  about  those  "who  have 
laid  violent  hands  on  themselves"  to  read,  "in  whose  case 
a  verdict  shall  have  been  found  of  felo  de  se." 

The  Scottish  Office,  as  revised  by  the  Bishops  in  191 2, 
is  identical  with  the  English  down  to  the  end  of  the  Lesson 
from  1  Cor.  xv,  except  that  it  permits,  "with  the  sanction 
of  the  Bishop,"  the  omission  of  verses  27-40  inclusive.  It 

upon  the  grave  of  a  beloved  daughter  this  inscription,  "In  the  midst  of 
death  we  are  in  life."  It  is  also  worthy  of  note  that  the  use  of  the 
Sequence  at  Burials  is  peculiar  to  the  Anglican  Communion,  alike  in  its 
ancient  and  its  modern  Office.    It  never  had  a  place  in  the  Roman. 


354   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


also  provides  seven  other  brief  Lessons  which  may  be  sub- 
stituted for  the  first,  as  follows:  —  S.  John  v,  24-28;  vi, 
37-41;  xi,  21-28;  2  Cor.  iv,  16  to  v,  11;  1  Thess.  iv,  13  to 
end;  Rev.  vii,  9  to  end;  and  xxi,  3-6. 

After  the  Lesson  it  provides  for  the  use  "of  one  or  more 
of  these  prayers;"  the  Collects  for  Advent  Sunday,  Palm 
Sunday,  Easter  Eve,  Twenty-first  Sunday  after  Trinity; 
"Almighty  God,  the  fountain,"  etc.,  at  the  end  of  the  Com- 
munion Office;  "We  humbly  beseech  Thee,  O  Father,"  etc. 
at  the  end  of  the  Litany;  a  prayer  entitled  "Commemora- 
tion of  the  Faithful  Departed,"  and  "A  Prayer  for  those 
in  sorrow."  An  alternative  form  of  Committal  is  provided 
which  is  almost  identical  with  that  of  the  American  Office, 
with  the  single  exception  of  using  the  Revised  Version  of 
Phil,  iii,  21  instead  of  "who  shall  change  our  vile  body," 
etc.,  as  in  the  Auth.  Ver. 

At  the  Burial  of  Baptized  Children  it  is  permitted 
to  use  among  the  opening  sentences,  "Jesus  said,  Suffer 
the  little  children  to  come  unto  Me,"  etc.,  and  to  substi- 
tute for  the  Psalms  and  the  Lesson,  Psalm  xxiii,  and  S.  Matt, 
xviii,  1— 11.  Three  special  prayers  are  also  provided  as 
follows :  — 

"O  Heavenly  Father,  whose  face  the  angels  of  the  little 
ones  do  always  behold  in  heaven:  Grant  us  stedfastly 
to  believe  that  this  little  child  hath  been  taken  into  the 
safe  keeping  of  Thy  eternal  love;  through  Jesus  Christ 
our  Lord.  Amen. 

"O  Lord  Jesu  Christ,  who  didst  take  little  children  into 
Thine  arms  and  bless  them:  Open  Thou  our  eyes,  we  be- 
seech Thee,  that  we  may  perceive  that  Thou  hast  now  taken 
this  child  into  the  arms  of  Thy  Love,  and  hast  bestowed 
upon  him  the  blessings  of  Thy  gracious  favour;  who  livest 
and  reignest  with  the  Father  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  one  God, 
world  without  end.  Amen. 


BURIAL  OF  THE  DEAD 


355 


"We  yield  Thee  hearty  thanks,  most  merciful  Father, 
that  it  hath  pleased  Thee  to  regenerate  this  child  with  Thy 
Holy  Spirit,  to  receive  him  for  Thine  own  by  adoption, 
and  to  incorporate  him  into  Thy  Holy  Church.  And  hum- 
bly we  beseech  Thee  to  grant  that,  as  he  is  made  partaker 
of  the  death  of  Thy  Son,  he  may  also  be  partaker  of  His 
resurrection;  so  that  finally,  with  the  residue  of  Thy  Holy 
Church,  he  may  be  an  inheritor  of  Thy  everlasting  kingdom; 
through  Christ  our  Lord.  Amen." 

A  Prayer  for  the  Benediction  of  a  Grave  in  uncon- 
secrated  ground  is  provided  as  follows:  — 

"O  Lord  Jesu  Christ,  who  wast  laid  in  the  new  tomb  of 
Joseph,  and  didst  thereby  sanctify  the  grave  to  be  a  bed 
of  hope  to  Thy  people:  Vouchsafe,  we  beseech  Thee,  to 
bless,  hallow,  and  consecrate  this  grave,  that  it  may  be  a 
resting-place,  peaceful  and  secure,  for  the  body  of  Thy 
servant  which  we  are  about  to  commit  to  Thy  gracious 
keeping,  who  art  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life,  and  who 
livest  and  reignest  with  the  Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost, 
one  God,  world  without  end.  Amen" 

The  Celebration  of  the  Holy  Communion  when 
there  is  a  Burial  of  the  Dead  was  provided  for  in  the 
Book  of  1549  as  follows:  —  For  the  Introit,  Psalm  xlii; 
the  Collect  is  the  same  as  that  in  the  present  Book  pre- 
ceding "The  grace,"  etc.,  down  to  "the  life  of  righteous- 
ness," after  which  it  reads,  "that,  when  we  shall  depart  this 
life,  we  may  sleep  in  Him  (as  our  hope  is  this  our  brother 
doth);  and  at  the  general  Resurrection  at  the  last  Day, 
both  we,  and  this  our  brother  departed,  receiving  again 
our  bodies,  and  rising  again  in  Thy  most  gracious  favor, 
may,  with  all  Thine  elect  Saints,  obtain  eternal  joy.  Grant 
this,  0  Lord  God,  by  the  means  of  our  Advocate  Jesus 
Christ;  which,  with  Thee  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  liveth  and 
reigneth  one  God  for  ever.  Amen."  The  Epistle,  1  Thess. 
iv,  13  to  end;  The  Gospel,  S.  John  vi,  37-41. 


CHAPTER  XXXV 


Other  Occasional  Offices,  Churching  of  Women,  etc. 

"  Is  there,  in  bowers  of  endless  spring, 

One  known  from  all  the  seraph  band 
By  softer  voice,  by  smile  and  wing, 

More  exquisitely  bland? 
Here  let  him  speed:  today  this  hallowed  air 
Is  fragrant  with  a  mother  s  first  and  fondest  prayer."  —  Keble. 

A  |  \HE  Thanksgiving  of  Women  after  Childbirth, 


1  commonly  called  The  Churching  of  Women,  varies  little 
in  any  of  the  revised  Books  from  the  mediaeval  Use,  or  from 
the  Book  of  1549,  the  chief  difference  being  the  appointed 
Psalms.  In  this  latter  Book,  as  in  the  ancient  Office,  the 
title  was  The  Order  of  the  Purification  of  Women,  in  allu- 
sion to  the  Jewish  rite  scrupulously  observed  by  the  Mother 
of  the  Holy  Child,  and  prescribed  by  the  ancient  law.1 
The  mediaeval  Use  required  the  Office  to  begin  in  the  church 
porch  {ante  ostium),  as  in  the  Marriage  service,  and  after 
the  prayers  the  woman  was  sprinkled  with  holy  water,  and 
the  Priest  led  her  by  the  right  hand  into  the  church  {per 
manum  dextram  in  ecclesiam).  It  is  for  this  reason  that  the 
Office  acquired  the  popular  name  of  Churching.  The  Book 
of  1549  prescribes  "some  convenient  place  nigh  unto  the 
Quire  door,"  and  begins  with  the  present  brief  address, 
adding  as  an  additional  cause  for  thanksgiving  (after  the 
word  "deliverance"),  "and  your  child  Baptism."  "De- 
cently apparelled"  means  or  includes  the  wearing  of  a  veil, 
according  to  the  ancient  custom. 

1  S.  Luke  ii,  22,  etc.,  and  Lev.  xii,  2,  etc. 


CHURCHING  OF  WOMEN,  tfc. 


The  mediaeval  Office  had  Psalms  cxxi,  and  cxxviii.  The 
Book  of  1549  had  omitted  the  latter.  The  present  English, 
Irish,  and  Scottish  Books  have  Psalm  cxvi,  or  cxxvii;  while 
the  American  has  a  "hymn"  or  cento  composed  of  verses 
1,  2,  4,  5,  11,  12,  13  of  Psalm  cxvi.  The  American  Book 
also  permits  the  use  of  "the  concluding  prayer  alone  as  it 
stands  among  the  Occasional  Prayers  and  Thanksgivings." 
The  Irish  Book  adds  the  Aaronic  benediction,  "The  Lord 
bless  thee,"  etc.  To  the  requirement  of  "accustomed 
offerings,"  as  in  the  present  Books,  the  First  Revised  Book 
directed  that  the  woman  shall  "offer  her  Crisome,"  that 
is,  the  white  dress  put  upon  her  child  at  Baptism.  It 
is  surely  much  to  be  regretted  that  gratitude  for  deliver- 
ance in  "the  great  danger  of  childbirth,"  the  gift  from 
God  of  the  soul  and  body  of  a  child,  and  its  admission  into 
the  Church  by  Baptism,  should  not  compel  every  Christian 
mother  to  welcome  the  use  of  such  an  Office  as  this,  and  to 
fulfil  its  final  requirement  by  receiving  the  Holy  Commun- 
ion in  further  token  of  her  thankfulness  and  of  her  need. 

A    COMMINATION,    OR,    DENOUNCING    OF    God's  AnGER 

and  Judgments  against  Sinners,  with  certain  Prayers, 
etc.  This  is  the  title  of  the  special  penitential  Office  for 
"the  first  day  of  Lent,  and  other  times,  as  the  Ordinary 
shall  appoint."  The  title  in  the  Book  of  1549  was  simply, 
"The  First  Day  of  Lent,  commonly  called  Ash  Wednes- 
day." The  present  title  was  adopted  in  1662.  The  ser- 
vice is  practically  identical  with  that  of  the  mediaeval  Use. 
This  prescribed  that  an  address  should  be  made  by  the 
Priest  at  the  beginning,  but  no  form  was  given,  as  is  done  in 
the  present  Book.  The  seven  penitential  Psalms  formed 
part  of  the  ancient  Office,  and  these  are  still  prescribed  for 
the  day;  vi,  xxxii,  and  xxxviii,  at  Matins;  li,  in  the  Com- 
mination;   and  cii,  cxxx,  and  cxliii,  at  Evensong.  The 


358   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


blessing  and  distribution  of  ashes  took  place  before  the 
prayer,  "O  Most  Mighty  God,"  the  beginning  of  which 
is  taken  from  the  Benediction  of  the  Ashes  (Benedictio 
Cinerum),  and  the  remainder  from  one  of  the  preceding 
collects.  The  General  Supplication,  said  by  people  and 
priest,  is  formed  from  portions  of  the  ancient  service,  and 
occupies  the  place  of  the  Procession,  or  Litany. 

The  American  Church  omitted  in  1789  the  whole  of  this 
Office,  justly  feeling  that  a  service  so  largely  composed  of 
Malediction  (cursing),  or  Commination  (threatening),  was 
not  in  keeping  with  the  spirit  of  the  New  Testament.  Mr. 
Blunt  writes  of  these  "awful  Judaic  maledictions":  "The 
form  in  which  these  are  used  is  singularly  out  of  character 
with  the  general  tone  of  the  Prayer  Book;  denunciation  of 
sin  ordinarily  taking  the  form  of  a  Litany,  not  of  an  exhor- 
tation, under  the  Christian  dispensation.  .  .  .  Persons  'con- 
victed of  notorious  sin'  are  now  otherwise  punished;  and 
an  aspiration  after  the  revival  of  an  'open  penance*  [as 
in  the  'godly  discipline  of  the  Primitive  Church']  which  is 
utterly  impossible,  is  apt  to  lead  the  thoughts  away  from 
the  restoration  of  a  discipline  and  penance  which  is  both 
possible  and  desirable." 1  In  1892  the  American  Church 
restored  the  whole  of  the  supplicatory  portion  of  the  Office, 
beginning  with  the  51st  Psalm,  under  the  title,  "A  Pene- 
tential  Office  for  Ash  Wednesday,"  and  introduced  the 
beautiful  fifth  century  collect  from  the  Gelasian  Sacra- 
mentary,  "O  God,  whose  nature  and  property,"  immediately 
before  the  final  prayer  of  benediction. 

Forms  of  Prayer  to  be  used  at  Sea  are  not  a  substi- 
tute for  the  ordinary  Offices,  but  are  only  a  collection  of 
prayers  suited  to  various  occasions.  There  are  prayers 
for  use  in  storm  and  before  a  fight,  and  thanksgivings  after 

1  Ann.  Pr.  Bk.y  p.  309. 


CHURCHING  OF  WOMEN,  tfc.  359 


a  storm  or  a  victory.  It  seems  to  be  in  keeping,  however, 
with  the  traditions  of  the  English-speaking  race  that,  as 
has  been  ingeniously  remarked,  "the  compiler  does  not 
seem  to  have  in  mind  the  possibilities  of  a  defeat."  1  These 
prayers  were  composed  and  inserted  in  the  revision  of  1662, 
and  are  said  to  have  been  the  work  of  Bishop  Sanderson  of 
Lincoln.  The  need  of  them  was  doubtless  forced  on  the 
attention  of  the  revisers  by  the  wonderful  growth  of  British 
commerce,  colonies,  and  sea  power,  which  began  to  re- 
ceive its  vast  expansion  in  "the  spacious  times  of  great 
Elizabeth." 

The  American  Office  for  The  Visitation  of  Prisoners 
was  taken  by  the  revisers  of  1789  from  the  Irish  Prayer 
Book,  as  "treated  upon  by  the  Archbishops  and  Bishops, 
and  the  rest  of  the  Clergy  of  Ireland,  in  their  Synod,  holden 
at  Dublin,  in  the  year  171 1."  Some  slight  changes  were 
made  in  the  service  by  the  Irish  Synod  in  1877.  The  Office 
provides  a  special  Collect,  Epistle  (1  S.  John  i,  9),  and 
Gospel  (S.  John  v,  24),  for  a  celebration  of  the  Holy  Com- 
munion. There  is  no  service  corresponding  to  this  in  the 
English  and  Scottish  Books. 

The  American  and  the  Irish  Prayer  Books  alone  contain 
Offices  for  Harvest  Thanksgiving.  In  the  early  days  of 
New  England  the  old  English  custom  of  Harvest  Home 
had  been  retained  by  the  colonists,  and  it  had  become  an 
established  rule  that  the  Governors  should  appoint  each 
autumn  a  day  of  public  thanksgiving  and  prayer.  The 
custom  spread  to  other  States,  but  was  not  observed  in  the 
South  until  the  Church  in  1789  adopted  the  present  "Form 
of  Prayer  and  Thanksgiving  to  Almighty  God,  For  the 
Fruits  of  the  Earth,  and  all  the  other  Blessings  of  His  merci- 
ful  Providence."   At  first  the  date  appointed  by  the  different 

1  Dr.  Samuel  Hart. 


36o   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fc?  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


Governors  varied,  and  so  the  Church  prescribed  "the  first 
Thursday  in  November,  or  such  other  day  as  shall  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  Civil  Authority.'*  As  no  day  was  appointed 
by  the  Governors  in  the  South,  Churchmen  there  naturally 
observed  the  first  Thursday,  while  in  the  North  the  day 
varied  in  each  State  according  to  the  proclamation  of  the 
Governor.  It  was  only  during  the  Civil  War  (i 861-1865) 
that  the  President  of  the  United  States  appointed  a  Day  of 
National  Thanksgiving,  and  since  then  the  custom  has 
been  universally  observed,  the  day  being  fixed,  though  not 
necessarily,  for  the  last  Thursday  in  November. 

The  form  provided  for  the  day  is  not  an  Office  by  itself 
but  consists  of  certain  additions  to  and  substitutions  for 
the  ordinary  services.  Among  the  opening  sentences  are 
passages  from  Prov.  iii,  9,  10,  19,  20;  and  Deut.  xxiii,  27; 
xxviii,  28,  29.  The  Venite  is  replaced  by  a  "cento"  con- 
sisting of  vv.  1,  2,  3,  7,  8,  9,  12,  13,  14  of  Psalm  cxlvii.  A 
portion  of  the  Psalms  is  left  "to  the  discretion  of  the  Min- 
ister." The  Lessons  are  Deut.  viii,  and  1  Thess  v,  ver.  12 
to  24.  A  special  thanksgiving  is  said  after  the  General 
Thanksgiving,  and  a  special  Collect,  to  take  the  place  of 
that  for  the  day.  The  Epistle  is  S.  James  i,  16  to  end; 
the  Gospel,  S.  Matt,  v,  43  to  end.  This  is  the  only  service 
that  was  taken  from  the  "Proposed  Prayer  Book"  of  1786. 
The  Irish  "Form  of  Thanksgiving  for  the  Blessings  of 
Harvest"  (adopted  in  1877)  follows  the  same  general 
lines  as  the  American.  It  gives  a  larger  choice  of  Les- 
sons, and  provides  two  Collects,  two  Epistles,  and  two 
Gospels. 

The  two  "Forms  of  Prayer  to  be  used  in  Families" 
(for  Morning  and  Evening),  placed  in  the  American  Book 
in  1789,  had  already  been  much  used  in  the  Colonies.  They 
were  composed  by  Edward  Gibson,  Bishop  of  London 


CHURCHING  OF  WOMEN,  fcfc.  361 


(1724-1748),  in  whose  jurisdiction  all  the  Churches  in  the 
Colonies  had  been  placed  by  royal  patent. 

The  English  Book,  "until  the  year  1859,  contained  four 
services  for  special  days  of  the  year  which  were  commonly 
called  *  State  Services/  because  they  commemorated 
certain  public  events  connected  with  the  political  history 
of  the  country."  1  These  were  drawn  up  by  Bishops,  or 
by  Convocation,  but  had  no  joint  authority  of  Convoca- 
tion and  Parliament  such  as  that  of  the  Book  of  1662.  The 
four  services  are,  (1)  for  the  Fifth  of  November,  in 
commemoration  of  the  discovery  of  the  Powder  Plot  to 
destroy  the  King  and  the  two  Houses  of  Parliament  at  the 
opening  session  of  1605 ;  (2)  for  the  Thirtieth  of  January, 
"as  a  day  of  fasting  and  humiliation"  for  the  anniversary 
of  the  death  of  "King  Charles  the  Martyr"  in  1649;  (3)  for 
the  Twenty-ninth  of  May,  with  thanksgivings,  for  a 
double  reason,  as  being  the  birthday  of  Charles  II  as  well 
as  the  day  of  his  Restoration;  (4)  for  the  Accession  of 
the  reigning  Sovereign,  which,  in  its  original  form,  was 
issued  in  1578,  to  be  used  on  Nov.  17th,  the  anniversary 
of  the  accession  of  Queen  Elizabeth  (in  1558).  In  1859  a 
"Warrant"  was  issued  by  Queen  Victoria,  at  the  request 
of  Convocation  and  Parliament,  for  the  discontinuance  of 
the  first  three  of  these  services. 

The  "Accession  Service,"  for  use  on  the  anniversary 
day  of  the  Accession  of  the  reigning  Sovereign,  is  very 
similar  in  the  three  English,  Scottish,  and  Irish  Books. 
The  two  latter  have  given  up  the  use  of  the  "Anthem,"  or 
cento  composed  of  verses  of  various  Psalms,  to  be  said 
or  sung  antiphonally  by  priest  and  people,  in  place  of  the 
Venite.  The  other  changes  in  these  Books  are  chiefly  in 
the  prayers.    The  Scottish  has  two  new  prayers,  and  pro- 

1  Blunt,  Ann.  Pr.  Bk.,  pp.  578,  579. 


362   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


vides  a  short  additional  service  which  "may  also  be  used 
on  the  same  day  at  any  convenient  time."  This  begins 
with  the  Te  Deum,  which  is  here  divided  into  its  three  natural 
strophes,  (i)  "We  praise  Thee,"  to  "the  Comforter"; 
(2)  "Thou  art  the  King,"  to  "glory  everlasting";  (3)  "0 
Lord,  save,"  to  end.  All  the  Books  have  the  "Prayer  for 
Unity,"  "O  God,  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 


The  Ordinal  —  The  Witness  of  Holy  Scripture 

"  Who  is  God's  chosen  -priest? 
He  who  on  Christ  stands  waiting  day  and  nighty 
Who  traced  His  holy  steps,  nor  ever  ceased, 

From  Jordan's  banks  to  Bethphage  height: 

"  Who  hath  learned  lowliness 
From  His  Lord's  cradle,  patience  from  His  Cross; 
Whom  poor  men's  eyes  and  hearts  consent  to  bless; 

To  whom,  for  Christ,  the  world  is  loss."  —  Keble. 


iHE  Revisers  of  1549  made  a  bold  and  uncompro- 


JL  mising  statement  in  the  Preface  to  the  Ordinal  which 
the  whole  Anglican  Communion  has  never  since  modified, 
much  less  withdrawn.  "It  is  evident,"  they  said,  "unto  all 
men,  diligently  reading  Holy  Scripture  and  ancient  Authors, 
that  from  the  Apostles'  time  there  have  been  these  Orders 
of  Ministers  in  Christ's  Church,  —  Bishops,  Priests, 
and  Deacons."  And  then  they  add  this  inference  or  corol- 
lary, "No  man  shall  be  accounted  or  taken  to  be  a  lawful 
Bishop,  Priest,  or  Deacon,  in  the  Church  ('of  England,'  or 
'Ireland,'  or  'this  [American]  Church')  .  .  .  except  he  be 
admitted  thereunto,  according  to  the  Form  hereafter  follow- 
ing, or  hath  had  formerly  Episcopal  Consecration  or  Or- 
dination." It  is  important,  therefore,  at  the  outset  to 
enquire  concerning  the  accuracy  of  this  declaration  by 
accepting  the  challenge  to  "read,"  and  that  "diligently, 
Holy  Scripture  and  ancient  Authors"  with  this  object  in  view. 

It  must  never  be  forgotten  that  our  Lord  was  a  loyal 
Jew,  accustomed  from  childhood  to  a  strict  order  of  Divine 


364   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


appointment,  not  only  of  worship  and  festival  and  fast, 
but  also  of  Ministry.1  He  Himself  tells  us  He  came  "Not 
to  destroy  but  to  fulfil"  the  old  law  of  God,2  which  S.  Paul 
tells  us  was  the  shadow  and  similitude  of  that  which  was  to 
come.3  To  this  ancient  Ministry  of  High  Priest,  Priest, 
and  Levite  He  was  ever  obedient,  and  required  others  to  be 
obedient,  even  though  many  of  its  members  were  utterly  un- 
worthy of  their  office,  and  even  though  the  chief  rulers  of  the 
Church  were  they  who  actually  sent  Him  to  the  Cross.4  In 
Him  the  great  High  Priest,5  all  the  offices  of  the  ancient  three- 
fold Ministry  were  fulfilled,  and  at  His  death  ceased  to  be, 
while  henceforth  He  became  the  greater  Aaron,  or  rather  the 
new  source  and  fountain  of  the  Ministry  which  was  to  con- 
tinue to  speak  and  act  in  His  name  "unto  the  end  of  the 
world."  6 

It  is  most  important,  therefore,  to  observe  the  way  in 
which  our  Lord  set  about  the  preparation  and  establishment 
of  His  "Kingdom,"  or,  as  He  also  calls  it,  His  "Church."7 
He  does  not  begin  by  preaching  to  the  multitudes  in  great 
cities.  Though  possessed  of  the  powers  and  the  infinite 
love  of  the  Incarnate  Godhead,  and  knowing  the  fearful 
need  of  His  message,  not  only  by  His  countrymen  the 
Jews,  but  by  the  great  Roman  and  Greek  world,  and  the 
vast  "barbarian"  world  beyond  its  borders,  we  find  Him, 

1  See  The  Christian  Tear,  Its  Purpose,  etc.,  chaps,  v  and  vii. 

2  S.  Matt,  v,  17. 

3  Col.  ii,  17;  Heb.  x,  1. 

*  See  S.  Matt,  viii,  4;  S.  Mark  i,  44;  S.  Luke  xvii,  14;  S.  Matt,  xxiii,  2. 
6  Heb.  ii,  17;  iii,  1;  v,  5;  be,  II. 

6  S.  Matt,  xxviii,  20. 

7  S.  Matt,  xvi,  18;  xviii,  17.  For  the  reasons  for  the  frequent  use 
of  "Kingdom"  and  the  infrequent  use  of  "Church"  in  the  Gospels,  while 
in  the  Acts,  Epistles,  and  Revelation  "Kingdom"  occurs  only  25  times,  and 
"the  Church"  ill  times,  see  the  author's  Christian  Year,  pp.  30,  31,  note. 


THE  ORDINAL  AND  SCRIPTURE  365 


with  marvellous  self-control,  living  His  secluded  life  as  a 
carpenter  in  the  little  village  of  Nazareth  until  His  thirtieth 
year,  when  the  commission  and  consecration  of  His  Father 
came  to  Him  at  His  baptism.1  It  is  to  this  wonderful  self- 
abnegation  and  "call"  that  S.  Paul  refers  when  he  declares 
that  even  "Christ  glorified  not  Himself  to  be  made  an 
high  priest;  but  He  that  said  unto  Him,  Thou  art  a  priest 
for  ever  after  the  order  of  Melchisedec. " 2  Thereafter, 
without  further  delay  than  the  solemn  preparatory  fast 
in  the  wilderness,  He  proceeds  at  once  to  His  brief  but  tran- 
scendently  fruitful  work  of  the  three  remaining  years  of 
His  earthly  life.  He  does  indeed  preach  to  the  multitudes, 
though  He  finds  them  fickle  and  uncertain.  He  teaches 
also  in  the  quieter  atmosphere  of  the  synagogues,  and  by  the 
lonely  lake-side,  and  in  private  houses.  But  His  first  and 
constant  work  is  the  preparation  of  the  men  who  are  to 
be,  not  only  the  founders  but,  in  themselves  and  those 
whom  they  should  appoint  and  send,  His  "ministers"  and 
"ambassadors."  3 

Before  teaching  the  multitudes  He  chooses  one  by  one 
the  twelve  men,  most  of  them  already  drawn  to  the  ranks 
of  the  Baptist  by  his  trumpet-call  to  repentance.4  The 
choice  was  no  random  one.  "He  knew  what  was  in  man."  6 
This  was  the  stuff  whereof  the  founders  of  His  Church  were 
to  be  moulded  and  made,  plain  men  of  "the  common 
people,"  "whose  hearts  God  had  touched."6  To  these 
twelve,  whose  names  are  afterwards  four  times  carefully 
recorded,  after  a  night  of  lonely  prayer  on  the  mountain 
top,  He  gives  their  first  commission  and  the  title  of  "Apos- 
tles."   He  keeps  them  very  close  to  His  person  that  He 

1  S.  Luke  iii,  21,  22,  23.  4  S.  John  i,  35  to  end. 

2  Heb.  v,  5.  6  S.  John  ii,  25. 

•  1  Cor.  iv,  1;  2  Cor.  v,  20.        6  S.  Mark  xii,  37;  1  Samuel  x,  26. 


366   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


may  train  and  teach  them  by  signs  and  words  and  example.1 
And  in  addition  to  these  twelve  He  had  "seventy  others" 
in  this  training  school  for  His  future  Ministry.2 

It  is  not  until  after  His  resurrection,  when  "all  power  is 
given  unto  Him  in  heaven  and  in  earth,"  3  that  the  Apostles 
receive  their  full  commission.  On  the  first  Easter  Day, 
fifty  days  before  His  gift  to  the  Church  at  large,  He  gives 
the  Holy  Ghost  to  His  "chosen"  ones,4  and  with  It  the 
power  of  "the  keys,"  which  He  had  only  promised  them 
during  the  early  days  of  their  schooling.  This  He  bestows 
by  the  sacramental  act  of  "breathing  on  them,"  and  by 
the  use  of  words  which  are  still  claimed  and  used  by  the 
successors  of  these  same  Apostles  to  this  day,  in  the  or- 
daining of  both  Priests  and  Bishops.  To  the  Apostles  alone 
also,  during  the  great  forty  days  that  follow,  He  gives, 
not  only  the  authority  to  teach  and  govern  His  Church, 
but  also  special  "commandments"  and  directions  as  to 
how  the  vast  enterprise  of  establishing  "the  Kingdom  of 
God"  in  the  earth  —  especially  difficult  to  men  of  their  race, 
and  social  and  intellectual  rank  —  is  to  be  accomplished.6 

It  is  true  that  only  a  few  of  these  "commandments" 
have  come  down  to  us  in  words,  but  most  of  them  we  know 
by  means  of  acts,  and  this  is  the  chief  value  of  the  book 
which  we  call  "The  Acts  of  the  Apostles."  We  learn  from 
them,  and  from  other  acts  related  in  the  apostolic  letters 
addressed  to  fully  organized  branches  of  "the  Church" 
in  Rome,  Galatia,  Corinth,  etc.,  or  to  other  Apostles  as 
Timothy  and  Titus,  the  things  which  Christ  commanded 
them  to  do.    Among  these  unwritten  commandments  are 

1  S.  Matt,  x,  and  xi,  i;  S.  Mark  iii,  14;  S.  Luke  vi,  13;  xxii,  29,  30; 
Acts  i,  13. 

s  S.  Luke  x,  1,  17.        8  S.  Matt,  xxviii,  18.        4  S.  John  xx,  22. 
6  S.  Matt,  xvi,  19;  xviii,  18;  S.  John  xx,  21-23;  Acts  i,  I,  2,  3. 


THE  ORDINAL  AND  SCRIPTURE  367 


such  things  as  the  observance  of  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
instead  of  Saturday,  as  "the  Lord's  Day";  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  Holy  Communion  as  the  chief  act  of  the  Church's 
worship;  the  practice  of  Confirmation,  the  baptism  of 
infants  as  well  as  adults,  liturgic  worship,  the  observance 
of  a  ritual  year  corresponding  to  that  of  the  ancient  Church 
of  Israel,  etc.1 

But  what  concerns  us  here  is  those  "Acts  of  Apostles" 
which  tell  us  "the  mind  of  Christ"  2  in  regard  to  the  sacred 
Ministry.  We  have  already  seen  that  the  very  first  thing 
our  Lord  did  was  to  choose,  train,  and  commission  a  select 
number  from  out  of  the  larger  body  of  His  "disciples"  or 
followers  to  be  the  future  ministers  and  rulers  of  His  Church. 
Were  these  men  to  be  only  the  first  preachers  and  heralds 
of  His  Gosepl  of  good  news,  or  were  they  to  be  a  permanent 
"order"  of  ministers,  "as  was  that  of  Aaron?"  3  Our  Lord's 
final  words  to  the  eleven  faithful  Apostles  plainly  show  that 
their  commission  was  not  for  themselves  alone,  during 
their  own  brief  life,  but  for  that  perpetual  succession 
which  He  foresaw  and  foreordained  for  "all  the  world," 
"every  creature,"  "all  nations,"  and  "unto  the  end  of  the 
world."  4 

The  recorded  "acts"  or  doings  of  the  first  Apostles  leave 
us  in  no  doubt  on  this  subject.  The  utmost  care  is  taken 
at  once  to  fill  the  place  of  the  traitor  Judas,  and  as  the 
work  extends,  and  the  earlier  Apostles  die,  new  Apostles 
are  added.  Matthias  takes  the  place  of  Judas  by  the 
direct  commission  of  our  Lord  from  heaven.5  S.  Paul 
and  S.  Barnabas  become  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  in  the 
great  Succession.6    In  the  case  of  the  former  he  too  claims 

1  See  The  Christian  Year,  chap.  vii.  *  I  Cor.  ii,  16. 

'  Heb.  v,  4.  *  S.  Mark  xvi,  15;  S.  Matt,  xxviii,  19,  20. 

6  Acts  i,  25,  26.         6  Acts  xiv,  14. 


368  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


that  he  received  his  commission  as  well  as  his  complete  in- 
struction in  the  Gospel  directly  from  our  Lord,1  though  he  is 
not  allowed  to  exercise  it  in  its  fulness  until  the  Holy  Ghost, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  eleven  original  Apostles,  endued  both 
him  and  Barnabas  with  "power"  through  the  hands  of  the 
"prophets  and  teachers"  of  the  Church.2 

It  is  thus  plain  that  the  number  of  the  Apostles  is  not  to 
be  confined  to  the  original  twelve.  These  first  indeed 
were  to  be  witnesses  of  Christ's  actual  Resurrection  from 
the  dead,  and  to  lay  foundations,  but  other  Apostles  were 
no  less  needful  for  the  "edifying,"  that  is,  the  building  up, 
of  the  Church  until  the  fabric  is  complete.3  Hence  we 
find  S.  Paul  himself  ordaining  Titus  to  be  the  Apostolic 
Bishop  in  charge  of  the  Church  in  the  island  of  Crete.4 
Here  is  a  sixteenth  Apostle.  Again,  he  consecrates  Timothy 
and  Silas  to  the  same  high  office,  a  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth.5  Andronicus  and  Junias,  James,  "  the  Lord's 
brother,"  and  Epaphroditus  make  twenty-two,  all  of  whom 
are  distinctly  called  or  described  as  Apostles.6 

To  these  twenty-two  Apostles  must  be  added  "the  angels 
of  the  seven  Churches  in  Asia,"  who,  according  to  the  only 
intelligible  interpretation  of  the  book  of  Revelation,  and  the 
witness  of  all  early  history,  were  the  chief  ministers  of  the 

1  Acts  xxvi,  16,  17,  18;  Gal.  i,  1,  11,  12. 

2  Acts  xiii,  1,  2,  3;  2  Cor.  xi,  5;  and  see  Gore,  Orders  and  Unity , 
pp.  95,  96. 

3  Eph.  iv,  11,  12,  13. 

4  Titus  i,  5. 

5  1  Thess.  i,  1  and  ii,  6. 

6  Rom.  xvi,  7;  Gal.  i,  19;  Phil,  ii,  25.  In  this  last  passage  the  word 
"messenger"  in  the  original  is  "Apostle,"  which,  taken  in  immediate 
connection  with  the  context,  "the  Bishops  [that  is,  Presbyters  in  pastoral 
charge  of  congregations^  and  Deacons,"  seems  to  imply  an  official  rank 
of  one  temporarily  absent,  and  not  that  of  an  ordinary  "messenger." 


THE  ORDINAL  AND  SCRIPTURE  369 


Church  in  that  Roman  province  of  which  S.  John  had 
the  supreme  oversight.1  In  fact  so  numerous  did  the  Apos- 
tles become,  as  the  Church  spread  rapidly  throughout  the 
Roman  world  that,  as  early  as  the  year  60,  or  thereabouts, 
S.  Paul  finds  it  necessary  to  warn  the  Corinthian  Church 
against  "false  apostles,"  2  and  at  the  close  of  the  first  cen- 
tury we  see  the  aged  S.  John  commending  the  "Angel"  or 
Apostle  of  the  Church  in  Ephesus  because  he  had  "tried 
them  which  say  they  are  Apostles,  and  are  not,  and  had 
found  them  liars."  3  It  is  surely  a  clear  inference  from  these 
facts  of  the  New  Testament  that  the  office  of  Apostles  or 
chief  rulers  of  the  Church  was  never  intended  by  our  Lord 
to  die  out,  but  was  to  be  continued  in  unending  succession 
"unto  the  end  of  the  world." 

And  as  we  find  this  highest  order  of  Apostles  continued 
by  the  laying  on  of  hands  and  prayer  of  other  Apostles, 
so  we  find  them  ordaining  a  second  order  of  Elders,  or, 
as  it  is  in  the  Greek,  Presbyters,  or  Priests  (Priest  being 
simply  a  triple  abbreviation  of  the  Greek  word  presbuteros  — 
presbyter,  prester,  priest),  who  seem  to  be  the  successors  of 
the  Seventy  Disciples,  as  the  Apostles  were  of  the  Twelve.4 


1  Rev.  i,  ii,  iii.    Angel  and  Apostle  have  the  same  meaning  in  Greek, 
both  words  signifying  one  sent. 
1  2  Cor.  xi,  13. 

3  Rev.  ii,  2. 

4  See  Acts  iv,  5;  xi,  30;  xiv,  23;  xv,  4,  6,  23;  xvi,  4;  xx,  17;  1  Tim. 
v,  17;  Tit.  i,  5;  James  v,  14.  It  will  be  observed  here  that,  while  in  the 
consecration  or  ordaining  of  an  Apostle  or  Bishop,  Apostles  alone  take 
part,  at  the  ordination  of  a  Presbyter  other  Presbyters  present  join  with 
the  Bishop  in  the  act,  a  custom  still  continued  in  the  Church.  See  the 
rubric  in  the  Ordering  of  Priests,  and  compare  2  Tim.  i,  6,  "by  the  put- 
ting on  of  my  hands,"  in  evident  ordination  to  the  Apostleship,  and  1 
Tim.  iv,  14,  "with  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the  presbytery"  to  the 
order  of  Priesthood. 


370  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

This  perhaps  is  the  best  place  to  observe  that,  while  the 
name  now  given  universally  to  a  successor  of  the  Apostles 
since  the  beginning  of  the  second  century,  has  been  Bishop, 
it  is  only  used  once  with  that  meaning  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment,1 though  S.  Peter  applies  it  to  our  Lord  as  the  Apostle 
of  the  Father  —  "the  Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  your  souls.''  2 
The  word  is  a  corruption  of  the  Greek  Episkopos,  literally 
Overseer  or  Superintendent,  and  like  the  word  Pastor  or 
Shepherd,  it  was  at  first  applied  to  both  orders,  Apostle 
and  Presbyter.3  It  was  probably  at  the  close  of  the  first 
century,  or  the  beginning  of  the  second,  when  the  first 
generation  of  the  Apostles  had  died,  that  the  word  Apostle 
was  usually  (though  not  universally)  restricted  to  them 
as  a  token  of  special  honor.  The  original  word  had  a  dis- 
tinctly missionary  signification,  and  when  the  Church  began 
to  assume  its  normal  and  more  settled  condition,  and  the 
general  missionary  idea  became  less  prominent,  the  Episco- 
pacy, that  is,  the  overseeing  of  many  congregations  united 
in  a  single  Diocese,  became  the  chief  thought.  Hence- 
forth Bishop,  that  is,  Episkopos  or  Overseer,  became  the 
word  in  common  use  for  the  Apostle,  while  the  Episkopoi 
or  Overseers  of  single  congregations  were  known  only  as 
Presbyters.  Only  the  name  was  changed,  while  the  office 
remained  the  same.4 

The  third  order  of  the  Ministry,  Deacons,  correspond- 
ing to  the  Levites  in  the  older  Church,  while  it  doubtless 
existed  in  our  Lord's  original  plan,  seems  to  have  had  its 
actual  beginning  in  the  Ordination  of  the  Seven,  when  the 

1  Acts  i,  20.  2  i  Peter  ii,  25. 

1  See  Acts  xx,  17,  28,  Rev.  Ver.;  1  Tim.  iii,  1,  2;  Tit.  i,  5,  6,  7;  Phil,  i,  I. 

4  Bishop  Pearson  sums  up  his  argument  on  this  point  thus:  —  "There- 
fore an  Apostle  is  an  extraordinary  Bishop;  a  Bishop  is  an  ordinary 
Apostle."  Minor  Theol.  Works,  284. 


THE  ORDINAL  AND  SCRIPTURE  371 

need  of  an  additional  class  of  helpers  was  forced  upon  the 
Apostles  in  the  first  year  of  the  Church's  existence.1  Later 
we  see  them  form  an  integral  part  of  the  three-fold  Ministry.2 
We  see,  therefore,  that  even  during  the  lifetime  of  the  first 
Apostles,  who  "had  the  mind  of  Christ,"  and  knew  His 
will,3  the  Christian  Ministry  took  the  settled  form  of  three 
sacred  Orders,  Apostle  or  Bishop,  Presbyter  or  Priest,  and 
Deacon;  and  "stedfast  continuance  in  the  Apostles* 
fellowship,"  4  as  represented  by  this  three-fold  order,  re- 
mained as  at  first  one  of  the  four  tests  of  faithful  member- 
ship in  "the  congregation  of  Christ's  Flock."  Thus  the 
challenge  of  the  Preface  to  the  Ordinal,  so  far  as  the  New 
Testament  is  concerned,  is  seen  to  be  well  grounded:  "It 
is  evident  unto  all  men,  diligently  reading  Holy  Scripture, 
that  from  the  Apostles'  time  there  have  been  these  Orders 
of  Ministers  in  Christ's  Church,  — Bishops,  Priests,  and 
Deacons."  In  the  following  chapter  we  shall  examine  the 
witness  of  "Ancient  Authors." 


1  Acts  vi,  1-7. 

8  Phil,  i,  1;  1  Tim.  iii,  8,  10,  12. 


8  1  Cor.  ii,  16. 
*  Acts  ii,  42. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII 
The  Ordinal  —  The  Witness  of  Ancient  Authors 


"Other  doctrines  develop  slowly;  this  of  Apostolic  Succession  starts  forth 
at  once.  Other  doctrines  find  their  first  formal  statements  in  Fathers 
removed  by  a  century  or  even  more  from  apostolic  times;  this  is  enun- 
ciated and  enforced  in  the  most  emphatic  words  by  those  who  had  been 
taught  by  the  Apostles  themselves.  Other  doctrines  have  been  disputed 
from  time  to  time;  this  one  held  undisputed  possession  of  men's  beliefs 
throughout  the  Church  for  fifteen  hundred  years."  —  A.  W.  Haddan. 
"Let  preachers  take  heed  that  they  deliver  nothing  from  the  pulpit  to  be  reli- 
giously held  and  believed  by  the  people,  but  that  which  is  agreeable  to  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments,  and  such  as  the  Catholic  Fathers  and  ancient 
Bishops  have  collected  therefrom."  —  Canon  of  the  Convocation  which 
adopted  the  Articles  of  Religion  in  1571. 

WITH  the  testimony  of  Holy  Scripture  in  regard  to 
the  three  sacred  Orders  of  the  Christian  Ministry, 
All  the  Writers  of  the  First  Three  Centuries  who 
have  dealt  at  all  with  the  subject  are  in  complete  agreement. 
During  all  this  period  not  one  voice  is  raised  against  the  three- 
fold Ministry  of  Bishops,  Priests,  and  Deacons,  as  of  Divine 
authority.  Clement  the  Bishop  of  Rome  who,  some  thirty 
years  before,  had  been  a  valued  "fellow  laborer"  with  S. 
Paul  in  that  city,1  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Church  in  Corinth, 
not  later  than  a.d.  97,  in  regard  to  such  irregularities  there 
as  the  Apostle  himself  had  done  his  best  to  check.2  Igna- 
tius, born  about  a.d.  30,  Bishop  of  Antioch  and  all  Syria 
in  a.d.  69,  the  disciple  of  S.  John,  and  the  "little  child" 
to  whom  tradition  has  assigned  the  honor  of  being  "set  in 


1  Phil,  iv,  3. 


*  1  Cor.  chaps,  iii  and  xii,  especially. 


THE  ORDINAL  AND  ANCIENT  AUTHORS  373 


the  midst"  of  the  Apostles  as  an  example  of  humility,1 
wrote  six  letters  to  the  Churches  through  which  he  passed 
on  his  way  to  Rome  as  a  prisoner  and  a  martyr,  and  one  to 
Polycarp,  another  friend  of  S.  John,  who  was  probably 
"the  angel  of  the  Church  in  Smyrna,"  to  whom  our  Lord 
by  that  Apostle  sent  one  of  His  most  comforting  messages 
from  heaven.2  Polycarp  also  (born  about  a.d.  65),  who 
followed  Ignatius  to  martyrdom  about  a.d.  150,  has  left 
us  one  letter  of  undoubted  authenticity,  addressed  to  "the 
Church  of  God  sojourning  in  Philippi."  And  in  all  these 
letters  of  pupils  of  the  Apostles  we  have  the  same  testi- 
mony in  regard  to  the  Ministry  as  that  which  we  have 
found  in  the  New  Testament  itself. 

Clement,  the  former  of  these  authors,  dealing  with  the 
sectarian  divisions  in  Corinth,  writes:  "Let  us  then,  men 
and  brethren,  with  all  energy  act  the  part  of  soldiers,  in 
accordance  with  His  holy  commandments.  Let  us  con- 
sider those  who  serve  under  our  generals.  .  .  .  All  are  not 
prefects,  nor  commanders  of  a  thousand,  nor  of  a  hundred, 
nor  of  fifty."  He  refers  them  to  the  example  of  the  ancient 
priesthood  in  its  three  divinely  ordained  orders.  "His  own 
peculiar  services  are  assigned  to  the  high  priest,"  he  says, 
"  and  their  own  proper  place  is  prescribed  to  the  priests,  and 
their  own  special  ministrations  devolve  on  the  Levites.  The 
layman  is  bound  by  the  laws  that  pertain  to  laymen."  He 
writes  also,  "Our  Apostles  knew,  through  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  that  there  would  be  strife  on  account  of  the  office 
of  the  episcopate.  For  this  reason,  therefore,  inasmuch 
as  they  had  obtained  a  perfect  foreknowledge  of  this, 
they  appointed  those  [ministers]  already  mentioned,  and 
afterwards  gave  instructions,  that  when  these  should  fall 


S.  Matt,  xviii,  2. 
Rev.  ii,  8-12. 


374   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP     THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

asleep,  other  approved  men  should  succeed  them  in  their 
ministry."  1 

The  Seven  Letters  of  Ignatius  in  their  shorter  form 
are  pronounced  by  the  best  critics  to  be  genuine  and  authen- 
tic.2 Condemned  as  a  Christian  Bishop  about  a.d.  iio  to 
be  killed  by  wild  beasts  in  the  amphitheatre  at  Rome,  he 
was  led  thither  under  guard  of  ten  Roman  soldiers,  whom 
for  their  harshness  he  calls  "ten  leopards."  As  he  passes 
through  the  cities  of  Asia  Minor  he  receives  deputations  of 
fellow  Christians  who  make  his  progress  a  triumph.  From 
Smyrna,  the  city  of  Polycarp,  he  writes  letters  to  the  Churches 
of  the  Ephesians,  Magnesians,  Trallians,  and  to  the  Church 
in  Rome.  Farther  on,  at  Troas,  he  writes  to  the  Churches 
in  Philadelphia,  and  Smyrna,  and  to  Polycarp.  These 
letters  of  a  man  who  was  now  of  a  great  age  are  of  extraor- 
dinary interest.  "They  are  full  of  a  passionate  holiness 
and  a  rich  theology  of  the  incarnation."  3  But  their  special 
historical  value  is  in  their  witness  to  the  primitive  character 
of  the  Christian  Ministry.  A  few  extracts  out  of  many 
will  show  the  nature  of  this  evidence. 

To  the  Trallians  he  writes:  —  "When  ye  are  obedient  to 
the  Bishop  as  to  Jesus  Christ,  it  is  evident  to  me  that  ye 
are  living  not  after  men  but  after  Jesus  Christ.  ...  It  is 
therefore  necessary,  even  as  your  wont  is,  that  ye  should  do 
nothing  without  the  Bishop;  but  be  ye  obedient  also  to 
the  Presbytery,  as  to  the  Apostles.  ...  In  like  manner  let 

1  Ep.  to  the  Corinthians,  Edinburgh  edition,  chaps,  xxxvii,  xl,  xliv. 
Likewise  S.  Jerome,  in  the  fourth  century,  writes  in  his  Ep.  ad  Ev.:  —  "What 
Aaron  and  his  sons  and  the  Levites  were  in  the  Temple,  that  let  the  Bishops, 
and  Presbyters,  and  Deacons  claim  to  be  in  the  Church." 

2  See  Bp.  Lightfoot,  Apostolic  Fathers;  Harnack  in  Expositor,  Jan., 
1886,  who  says  their  genuineness  is  "certain;"  and  Gore,  The  Christian 
Ministry,  289. 

8  Bp.  Gore,  Orders  and  Unity,  p.  119. 


THE  ORDINAL  AND  ANCIENT  AUTHORS  375 

all  men  respect  the  Deacons,  etc.  .  .  .  Apart  from  these 
there  is  not  even  the  name  of  a  Church."  1  To  the  Phila- 
delphians:  —  "There  is  one  altar,  as  there  is  one  Bishop, 
together  with  the  Presbytery  and  the  Deacons  my  fellow- 
servants.,,  2  To  the  Church  in  Smyrna:  —  "Let  no  man 
do  aught  of  things  pertaining  to  the  Church  apart  from  the 
Bishop.  Let  that  be  a  valid  Eucharist  which  is  under 
the  Bishop,  together  with  the  Presbytery  and  the  Dea- 
cons my  fellow-servants,  or  one  to  whom  he  shall  have 
committed  it."  3 

Bishop  Gore  sums  up  the  chief  points  of  the  testimony 
of  Ignatius  as  follows:  — 

"1.  He  has  an  intensely  clear  perception  that  the  mind 
of  God  for  man's  salvation  has  expressed  itself  not  in  a 
doctrine  only,  but  in  an  ordered  society  with  an  authorita- 
tive hierarchy. 

"  2.  He  regards  this  hierarchy  as  essentially  threefold  — 
a  ministry  of  Bishops,  Presbyters,  and  Deacons.  Without 
these  three  orders,'  so  Dr.  Lightfoot  renders  the  words 
cited  above,  'no  Church  has  a  title  to  the  name.' 

"3.  He  presents  the  monarchical  episcopate  as  'firmly 
rooted'  and  'completely  beyond  dispute.' 4  He  bases  its 
authority  on  'the  ordinances  of  the  Apostles.' 

"4.  He  regards  episcopacy  as  coextensive  with  the  Church. 
He  speaks  of  the  Bishops  as  established  'in  the  farthest 
part  of  the  earth.'  He  knows,  therefore,  of  no  non-episcopal 
area. 

"5.  He  does  not  speak  of  the  Presbyters  as  if  they  could 
supply  the  place  of  the  Bishop  when  he  is  gone  —  that  is 
to  say,  as  sharing  essentially  the  same  office."  6 

1  Chaps,  ii,  iii.         2  Chap.  iv.  3  Chap.  iii. 

4  Harnack,  Expositor,  Jan.,  1886,  p.  16. 

6  Orders  and  Unity ,  pp.  122,  123.  See  also  his  Christian  Ministry,  chap, 
vi,  iii.  Other  references  to  the  Ministry  in  the  letters  of  Ignatius  will  be 
found  as  follows: — To  the  Ephesians,  ii,  iii,  iv,  v,  vi;  to  the  Magnesiansy 
ii,  iii,  vi,  vii,  xiii;  to  the  Romans,  ii,  ix;  to  Poly  carp,  iv,  vi. 


376  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

Polycarp,  Bishop  of  Smyrna  (born  about  a.d.  65),  the 
youthful  friend  of  S.  John  and  of  Ignatius,  to  whom  the 
latter  addressed  one  of  his  seven  letters,  has  also  left  us  a 
letter  of  undoubted  authenticity  addressed  to  "the  Church 
of  God  sojourning  in  Philippi."  Irenaeus  (born  about  130), 
Bishop  of  Lyons,  and  a  pupil  of  Polycarp,  writes  concern- 
ing him:  —  "I  could  describe  the  very  place  in  which  the 
blessed  Polycarp  sat  and  taught;  his  going  out  and  coming 
in;  the  whole  tenor  of  his  life;  his  personal  appearance; 
how  he  would  speak  of  the  conversation  he  had  with  John 
and  with  others  who  had  seen  the  Lord."  And  he  adds: 
— "  Polycarp  was  not  only  instructed  by  Apostles,  and 
conversed  with  many  who  had  seen  Christ,  but  was  also, 
by  Apostles  in  Asia,  appointed  Bishop  of  the  Church  in 
Smyrna,  whom  I  also  saw  in  my  early  youth,  for  he  tarried 
[on  earth]  a  very  long  time,  and,  when  a  very  old  man, 
gloriously  and  most  nobly  suffering  martyrdom  [about 
I5°l  departed  this  life,  having  always  taught  the  things 
which  he  had  learned  from  the  Apostles,  and  which  the 
Church  has  handed  down,  and  which  alone  are  true.  ,  .  . 
There  is  also  a  very  powerful  Epistle  of  Polycarp  written  to 
the  Philippians,  from  which  those  who  choose  to  do  so,  and 
are  anxious  about  their  salvation,  can  learn  the  character  of 
his  faith."  1 

This  letter  of  Polycarp's  is  full  of  the  gentle  spirit  of  his 
master,  S.  John,  but  its  chief  value  in  relation  to  the  Chris- 
tian Ministry  is  found  in  the  seal  of  approval  which  he  sets 
to  the  teachings  of  his  friend  Ignatius.  "The  Epistles 
of  Ignatius,"  he  says,  "written  by  him  to  us,  and  all  the 
rest  [of  his  Epistles]  which  we  have  by  us,  we  have  sent  to 
you,  as  you  requested.  They  are  subjoined  to  this  Epistle 
and  by  them  ye  may  be  greatly  profited;  for  they  treat  of 

1  Against  Heresies,  Book  III,  chap,  iii,  3,  Edin.  Ed. 


THE  ORDINAL  AND  ANCIENT  AUTHORS  377 


faith  and  patience,  and  all  things  that  tend  to  edification 
in  our  Lord.,,  1  In  Ignatius'  Epistle  to  Polycarp  he  writes: 
—  "My  soul  be  for  theirs  who  are  subject  to  the  Bishop, 
and  the  Presbyters,  and  the  Deacons."  2 

"When  Hegesippus,  'the  father  of  Church  history/ 
visited  the  West  about  a.d.  167,"  writes  Bishop  Gore,  "he 
found  a  ' succession*  of  Bishops  in  each  city,  and  made  a 
list  of  the  Bishops  for  the  purpose  of  his  history  at  Rome. 
When  Irenaeus,  the  great  representative  of  tradition,  writes 
against  the  Gnostics  about  a.d.  180,  he  regards  episcopacy, 
as  among  the  first  principles  of  the  Church,  and  as  the 
supreme  safeguard  of  the  orthodox  faith.  Tertullian, 
about  a.d.  200,  uses  the  same  language,  and  confronts  the 
Gnostic  'churches'  with  the  requirement  of  the  succes- 
sion." 3  Bishop  Lightfoot  asserts  that  "the  institution  of 
the  episcopate  must  be  placed  as  far  back  as  the  closing 
years  of  the  first  century,  and  that  it  cannot,  without  vio- 
lence to  historical  testimony,  be  dissevered  from  the  name  of 
S.  John."  "The  threefold  ministry  can  be  traced  to  Apos- 
tolic direction;  and  short  of  an  express  statement  we  can 
possess  no  better  assurance  of  a  Divine  appointment,  or  at 
least  a  Divine  sanction."  In  the  sixth  edition  of  this  book, 
referring  to  "a  rumor  that  he  had  found  reason  to  abandon 
the  main  opinions"  on  the  Ministry  expressed  in  earlier 
editions,  the  Bishop  "disclaims  any  change  in  his  opinions," 
while  attributing  the  erroneous  report  to  the  fact  that  he 
was  "scrupulously  anxious  not  to  overstate  the  evidence  in 
any  case."  "The  result  has  been,"  he  says,  "a  confirma- 
tion of  the  statement  in  the  English  Ordinal,  'It  is  evident 

1  Ep.  to  the  Philippians,  chap.  xiii. 

2  Chap.  vi. 

3  Orders  and  Unity,  p.  127;  and  see  Eusebius,  His.  Ecc.  iv,  22;  Irenaeus 
against  Heresies,  chaps,  iii,  iv,  v. 


378   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

unto  all  men  reading  Holy  Scripture  and  ancient  Authors, 
that  from  the  Apostles'  time  there  have  been  these  orders 
of  Ministers  in  Christ's  Church,  Bishops,  Priests,  and 
Deacons.' "  1 

With  such  witnesses  from  the  earliest  and  purest  days 
of  the  Church,  interpreting  and  confirming  the  witness  of 
the  New  Testament,  it  is  needless  to  do  more  than  refer  to 
the  hostile  judgment  of  Gibbon,  the  skeptical  historian  of 
The  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  in  what 
he  calls  "the  fifth  cause  of  the  progress  of  the  Christian 
religion."  He  is  compelled  to  admit  that  "this  episcopal 
form  of  government  appears  to  have  been  introduced  be- 
fore the  close  of  the  first  century";  that  "Bishops,  under 
the  name  of  Angels,  were  already  instituted  in  the  seven 
cities  of  Asia";  that  "Nulla  Ecclesia  sine  Episcopo  [No 
Church  without  a  Bishop]  has  been  a  fact  as  well  as  a  maxim 
since  the  time  of  Tertullian  and  Irenaeus";  and  that  "after 
we  have  passed  the  difficulties  of  the  first  century,  we  find 
the  episcopal  form  of  government  universally  established, 
until  it  was  interrupted  by  the  republican  genius  of  the 
Swiss  and  German  reformers."  In  a  later  chapter  he 
writes,  "The  Bishops  alone  possessed  the  faculty  of  spirit- 
ual generation,"  that  is,  of  giving  Holy  Orders.2 

It  is  in  view  of  all  these  facts  that  Hooker,  in  his  great 
defence  of  the  "Ecclesiastical  Polity"  of  the  Church  of 
England,  published  in  1594,  made  this  challenge  to  the 
learned  among  the  Puritans,  in  their  adoption  of  the  novel 
scheme  of  government  first  proposed  by  Calvin,  and  forced 
by  him  on  the  Protestants  of  Geneva:  —  "A  very  strange 
thing  sure  it  were,  that  such  a  discipline  as  ye  speak  of  should 

1  The  Epistle  to  the  Philippians.  —  Dissertation  on  the  Christian  Minis- 
try, pp.  234,  267,  and  Preface,  p.  x. 

*  Chap,  xv,  and  notes  no,  in,  112;  also  chap,  xx,  2. 


THE  ORDINAL  AND  ANCIENT  AUTHORS  379 


be  taught  by  Christ  and  His  Apostles  in  the  Word  of  God, 
and  no  Church  ever  have  found  it  out,  nor  received  it  till 
this  present  time;  contrariwise,  the  government  against 
which  ye  bend  yourselves  be  observed  everywhere  through- 
out all  generations  and  ages  of  the  Christian  world,  no 
Church  ever  perceiving  the  Word  of  God  to  be  against  it. 
We  require  you  to  find  out  but  one  Church  upon  the  face  of 
the  whole  earth,  that  hath  been  ordered  by  your  discipline,  or 
hath  not  been  ordered  by  ours,  that  is  to  say,  by  episcopal 
regiment,  sithence  the  time  that  the  blessed  Apostles  were  here 
conversant."  1 

Archbishop  Bancroft,  in  his  Sermon  at  S.  Paul's  Cross, 
in  1589,  made  the  same  challenge  in  almost  the  same  words. 
"A  very  strange  matter  if  it  were  true,  that  Christ  should 
erect  a  form  of  government  for  the  ruling  of  His  Church, 
to  continue  from  His  departure  out  of  the  world  until  His 
coming  again;  and  that  the  same  should  never  be  once 
thought  of  or  put  in  practice  for  the  space  of  1500  years."  2 

It  is  here  to  be  noted  that  the  question  of  Diocesan 
Episcopacy,  so  far  as  it  means  only  the  organization  of 
the  Church  into  Dioceses,  each  with  its  single  Bishop  as 
head,  must  be  clearly  distinguished  from  the  question  of 
Apostolic  Succession,  that  is,  of  the  Bishop  being  the 
successor,  and  possessor  of  the  ordinary  spiritual  gifts  and 
authority,  of  the  original  Apostles,  with  the  sole  power  of 
ordaining  men  to  the  three  orders  of  the  Ministry.  It  is 
plain  from  the  necessities  of  the  case  that  at  the  first,  and 
for  many  years  later,  there  should  be  no  clearly  defined 
limits  for  the  work  of  any  one  Apostle,  though  we  find 
S.  Paul,  with  his  thoughtful  and  courteous  consideration 
of  others,  careful  "not  to  preach  the  Gospel  where  Christ 

1  Preface,  chap,  iv,  sec.  I. 

2  Qu.  by  Keble  in  his  ed.  of  Hooker,  p.  193,  note. 


38o   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

was  [already]  named,  lest  he  should  build  on  another  man's 
foundation. "  1  The  first  Apostles  and  their  many  successors, 
up  to  the  close  of  the  first  century,  were  missionaries  at  large, 
and  it  was  only  by  slow  degrees,  and  by  a  natural  process 
of  evolution,  the  result  of  experience,  and  with  the  example 
of  the  orderly  civil  government  of  the  Roman  Empire  be- 
fore them,  that  the  jurisdiction  of  their  successors  was  con- 
fined to  particular  districts,  in  the  system  which  we  call 
Diocesan  Episcopacy.2  We  seem  to  see  its  beginning  in 
the  selection  of  "James  the  Lord's  brother,"  3  as  the  first 
Bishop  with  jurisdiction  over  "the  mother  of  all  Churches," 
as  the  local  Church  of  Jerusalem  was  called  by  the  Fifth 
General  Council.  For  the  sake  of  proper  organization 
mon-episcopacy,  or  the  setting  of  one  J  pos  tie-Bishop  as 
overseer  over  the  Presbyter-Bishops  of  each  city,  and  of 
the  surrounding  country  and  village  parishes,  became  a 
necessity,  and  early  writers  attribute  its  rapid  develop- 
ment to  the  work  of  S.  John  in  "the  seven  Churches  of  Asia." 

Even  in  the  sixth  century  in  Ireland  and  the  Scottish 
Highlands,  neither  of  which  had  ever  been  brought  under 
the  military  power  of  Rome,  Apostle-Bishops  retained 
much  of  their  original  missionary  character.  Lacking  the 
discipline  of  the  Empire,  the  Celtic  character  was  not 
strong  in  the  direction  of  organization,  and  Bishops  were 
not  always  found  in  charge  of  settled  Dioceses.  "The 
Church  was  intensely  monastic  in  all  its  arrangements," 
writes  Prof.  Stokes.  "Its  monasteries  were  always  ruled 
by  abbots  who  were  sometimes  Bishops,  but  most  usually 

1  Rom.  xv,  20. 

2  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  words,  Diocese  and  Province,  were 
both  designations  long  in  use  for  departments  of  the  Roman  Empire,  and 
were  simply  taken  over  by  the  Church  for  her  own  use. 

•  Gal.  i,  19;  ii,  12;  Acts  xv,  13;  xxi,  18. 


THE  ORDINAL  AND  ANCIENT  AUTHORS  381 


Presbyters.  This  does  not  prove  that  they  were  Presby- 
terians in  Church  government;  for,  if  not  themselves  Bishops, 
the  abbots  kept  a  Bishop  on  the  premises  for  the  purpose  of 
conferring  Holy  Orders.  The  abbot  was  the  ruler  of  the 
monastery,  .  .  .  but  recognized  his  own  inferiority  in  eccle- 
siastical matters  whether  in  celebrating  the  Eucharist,  or 
in  conferring  Holy  Orders,  —  a  function  which  appertained 
to  the  Bishop  alone."  1 

1  Ireland  and  the  Celtic  Church,  p.  104.  See  also  Gore,  The  Church  and 
the  Ministry,  p.  162,  note;  Todd,  S.  Patrick;  and  Reeves,  Ecc.  Antiquities. 
Prof.  Stokes  adds  in  a  note,  p.  105;  —  "  Wasserschleben,  in  his  Introduc- 
tion to  the  second  edition  of  Die  Irische  Kanonensammlung  (Leipzig: 
1885),  p.  xlii,  has  shown  that  the  custom  of  monasteries  having  their  own 
Bishop  under  the  government  of  an  abbot,  was  not  peculiar  to  the  Irish 
Church,  but  was  spread  as  far  as  Mount  Sinai."  The  Professor  of 
Poetry  at  Oxford,  J.  C.  Shairp,  himself  a  Scotsman  and  a  Presbyterian, 
writes  concerning  S.  Columba's  famous  monastery  on  the  island  of  Iona, 
from  whose  organization  inferences  have  been  drawn  unfavorable  to  the 
principle  of  the  threefold  Ministry:  —  "It  may  be  safely  asserted  that  the 
first  taste  Iona  had  of  Presbyterian  Church  polity  was  when  the  redoubtable 
presbytery  of  Argyll  in  one  day  hurled  its  360  crosses  into  the  sea."  Sketches 
in  History  and  Poetry. 

These  cases  throw  light  on  the  solitary  statement  of  S.  Jerome  (in  the 
fourth  century)  that  at  Alexandria,  down  to  about  A.  D.  230,  there  was 
a  certain  equality  between  the  Bishop  and  the  Presbyters,  so  that  when  the 
ruling  Bishop  dies,  one  of  these  Presbyters  succeeded  by  mere  election 
without  any  further  ordination.  In  view  of  what  we  have  seen  in  the  New 
Testament  and  what  was  clearly  the  universal  practice  of  the  first  and  second 
centuries,  the  most  natural  explanation  of  the  statement  would  be  that 
these  clergy  "were  in  the  same  position  as  the  Presbyters  of  any  modern 
Diocese  would  be  in,  if  they  were  all,  in  modern  phrase,  in  episcopal  orders" 
(Gore,  p.  131).  Compare  the  declaration  of  S.  Peter  who,  though  an 
Apostle,  tells  the  Presbyters  of  his  flock  that  he  is  "also  a  Presbyter;" 
and  S.  Paul,  who  speaks  of  himself  and  other  Apostles  again  and  again 
as  also  "Ministers"  (literally  diakonoi,  or  Deacons),  the  lower  offices  being 
necessarily  implied  in  the  higher  (1  Pet.  v,  1;  1  Cor.  iii,  5;  2  Cor.  iii,  6; 
vi,  4;  xi,  23;  Eph.  iii,  7;  Col.  i,  23,  25;  1  Thess.  iii,  2). 


382   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

Moreover,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  a  succession  through 
Presbyters  never  had  any  formal  recognition  whatever 
by  council  or  otherwise.    Until  the  sixteenth  century  the 
Bishop,  as  the  successor  of  the  first  Apostles,  was  alone 
recognized  as  the  rightful  source  of  Holy  Orders.  The 
question,  moreover,  is  purely  an  academical  one  today. 
Succession  through  Presbyters  is  occasionally  broached  as 
a  theory,  but  is  wholly  disregarded  in  practice.    Only  two 
theories  exist  now  in  regard  to  the  Christian  Ministry.  One 
is  the  theory  of  practically  all  the  150  or  more  Protestant 
communions  that,  one  after  another,  have  separated  from 
the  historic  Catholic  Church,   reformed  or  unreformed, 
or  else  from  one  another.    This  is,  in  effect,  that  an  inward 
call  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  a  certain  fitness  or  success  as 
preacher  or  pastor,  combined  usually  with  a  form  of  set- 
ting apart  by  some  one  already  recognized  as  a  Christian 
minister,  or  else  by  the  representatives  of  a  congregation 
(as  in  the  case  of  all  Independent  or  Congregational  bodies, 
including  all  Baptists),  constitute  all  that  is  necessary 
for  a  valid  commission.    This  was  the  theory  preached 
and  practised  by  Luther,  Calvin,  Zwingli,  Knox,  and  other 
intemperate  reformers  in  the  sixteenth  century.    The  only 
other  theory  in  existence  today  is  that  of  the  whole  Catholic 
Church,  East  and  West,  Greek,  Roman,  Anglican,  Ar- 
menian,  Syrian,   Coptic,   etc.,   recognized   and  practised 
everywhere  "from  the  Apostles'  days,"  and  which  is  known 
as  the  rule  of  Apostolic  Succession.    It  is  this  theory  which 
is  expressed  in  the  Preface  to  the  Ordinal  when  it  declares 
that  "no  man  shall  be  accounted  or  taken  to  be  a  law- 
ful Bishop,  Priest,  or  Deacon  in  the  Church  of  England 
[or  this  Church],  or  suffered  to  execute  any  of  the  said 
Functions,  except  he  hath  had  Episcopal  Consecration  or 
Ordination." 


THE  ORDINAL  AND  ANCIENT  AUTHORS  383 

It  is  this,  and  this  only,  which  is  the  clear  and  unmistak- 
able teaching  of  the  whole  Catholic  Church.  It  has  been 
also  the  constant  practice  of  the  whole  Anglican  Commun- 
ion, in  spite  of  occasional  irregularities  in  England  during 
the  unsettled  days  of  the  Puritan  revolution,  when  some  who 
had  received  Presbyterian  or  other  form  of  Protestant  ordi- 
nation in  Holland  or  elsewhere,  were  appointed  to  the  charge 
of  parishes  by  the  Puritan  government,  but  were  obliged 
to  resign  them  when  the  Church  regained  her  authority, 
and  they  refused  to  submit  to  ordination  by  a  Bishop.  It 
does  not  follow,  however,  that  all  who  fail  to  recognize 
the  threefold  Apostolic  Ministry  ordained  by  Christ  are 
outside  the  Christian  pale.  All  the  baptized  are  members  of 
Christ  and  therefore  of  His  Holy  Catholic  Church,  even 
though  they  are  not  in  the  enjoyment  of  all  its  grace  and 
benefits.  We  must  not  judge  them;  we  cannot.  To  their 
own  Master  they  stand  or  fall.  They  will  be  judged 
according  to  their  light  and  their  faithfulness  to  Him, 
and  we  believe  that  His  word,  "According  to  your  faith 
be  it  unto  you,"  1  will  be  fulfilled  in  them,  though  they 
miss  the  fulness  of  blessing  which  He  has  provided  for 
them. 

But  we  are  now  dealing,  not  with  individual  Christians, 
but  with  a  system.  Apart  from  the  witness  of  "Holy  Scrip- 
ture and  Ancient  Authors,"  this  system  has  shown  its 
unsoundness  by  its  endless  divisions,  "the  dissidence  of 
Dissent,"  where  Christ  demanded  perfect  unity,  and  by 
that  "down  grade"  in  doctrine  lamented  by  the  late  Mr. 
Spurgeon  amongst  English  Nonconformists.  This  has 
reached  its  utmost  depth  in  many  quarters  already,  par- 
ticularly in  Germany  and  Switzerland,  in  complete  rejection 
of  the  Faith;    a  condition  which  finds  no  single  example 

1  S.  Matt,  ix,  29. 


384   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


among  those  who,  with  all  their  shortcomings,  hold  to  the 
ancient  Ministry  of  Apostolical  Succession.1 

1  "It  took  one  thousand  years  to  corrupt  primitive  Christianity,  with 
its  sacramental  teaching,  into  Popery,  whereas  it  did  not  take  one  hundred 
years  to  corrupt  Puritanism,  or  ultra-Protestantism,  with  its  anti-sacramen- 
tal teaching,  into  the  rankest  Socinianism  —  a  Socinianism  utterly  denying 
all  that  makes  Christ  and  His  doctrine  of  value  to  lost  souls.  Within  a 
half  a  century  from  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  the  evil  was  fully  developed, 
and  in  less  than  two  centuries  (that  is,  by  about  1750)  the  evil  spirit  of 
unbelief  had  subdued,  or  all  but  subdued,  to  itself  the  Reformed  communions 
in  Poland,  in  France,  in  Holland,  in  Switzerland"  (Sadler,  Church  Doctrine, 
Bible,  Truth,  p.  344,  where  details  are  given  concerning  these  countries). 
In  1874  when  the  population  of  Berlin  was  700,000,  the  accommodation 
in  all  places  of  worship  put  together  was  for  only  40,000.  "With  a  nom- 
inal Protestant  population  of  2,060,000,  a  record  kept  last  February  [1914] 
on  a  Sunday  when  numerous  confirmations  were  to  take  place,  showed  a 
total  attendance  at  the  various  State  Protestant  churches  of  only  35,000" 
(New  York  Churchman,  Aug  8,  1914).  It  is  needless  to  point  out  the  bearing 
of  these  facts  upon  the  bold  and  open  teaching  of  such  men  as  Bernhardi 
and  Treitschke  among  the  Germans,  that  "the  end-all  and  be-all  of  a  State 
is  power,"  that  "the  State  cannot  be  judged  by  the  standard  of  individual 
morality,"  and  that  war  "is  not  only  a  biological  law,  but  a  moral  obliga- 
tion, and,  as  such,  an  indispensable  factor  in  civilization." 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII 

The  Ordinal  —  Imagined  Difficulties  in  the 
Succession 

"  //  is  as  impossible  for  an  impartial  man  to  doubt  whether  there  was  a  succes- 
sion of  Bishops  from  the  Apostles,  as  it  would  be  to  call  in  question  the 
succession  of  the  Roman  Emperors  from  Julius  C&sar,  or  the  succession 
of  Kings  in  any  other  country."  —  Archbishop  Potter  (Canterbury). 

BEFORE  proceeding  to  an  examination  of  the  Ordinal 
itself  it  will  be  well  to  speak  here  of  Two  Common 
Objections  to  the  principle  of  any  succession  in  the  Minis- 
try by  means  of  ordination. 

(i)  The  former  of  these  is  the  seeming  impossibility,  or 
at  least  uncertainty,  concerning  the  fact  of  an  actual  suc- 
cession "from  the  Apostles'  time."  It  is  assumed  that  there 
is  but  a  single  series  of  links  in  this  succession,  and  if  one  of 
these  should,  at  any  time,  be  broken,  as  for  instance  in  the 
"Dark  Ages,"  all  that  follows  is  rendered  void.  But  this 
is  based  on  an  entirely  mistaken  idea  of  what  constitutes 
Apostolic  Succession.  On  the  contrary  it  is  exactly  anal- 
ogous to  what  is  going  on  continually  in  all  orderly  civil 
government.  Kings,  presidents,  governors,  sheriffs,  judges, 
and  other  officers  of  state,  never  form  a  single  chain  of  sepa- 
rate links,  but  a  complete  concatenation  or  net-work,  so 
that  it  is  practically  impossible  for  any  one  to  force  his 
way  into  an  office  to  which  he  has  not  been  lawfully  ap- 
pointed. In  the  Church  even  greater  care  has  been  taken 
in  every  age  that  there  shall  be  no  failure  in  this  respect. 
The  consecration  of  Bishops  to  vacant  sees  must  be  made 
only  by  the  joint  action  of  the  Diocese,  or  neighboring 


386   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


Dioceses  affected,  and  must  be  accomplished  by  at  least 
three  Bishops  uniting  their  hands  and  prayers  in  the  act, 
and  all  other  Bishops  of  the  Province  must  at  least  be 
notified. 

This  has  been  the  rule  of  the  Church  ever  since  the  first 
great  General  Council  which  met  at  Nice  in  Asia  Minor  in 
325,  and  in  adopting  this  rule  the  Council  was  doubtless 
only  giving  formal  sanction  to  what  had  been  the  ordinary 
rule  of  the  Church  from  the  beginning.  It  will  be  readily 
seen,  therefore,  that  in  such  a  case  the  assumption  of  author- 
ity by  "false  apostles"1  is  practically  impossible.  And 
even  though,  in  one  or  more  cases,  such  an  unlikely  thing 
should  occur,  this  could  not  affect  the  whole  body  of  the 
Ministry  any  more  than  the  cutting  of  many  strands  of  an 
electrified  network  could  prevent  the  current  from  flowing 
freely  into  every  other  part.2 

In  fact  the  succession  in  the  Ministry  "from  the  Apostles' 
time"  is  much  more  surely  attested  than  that  of  the  succes- 
sion of  our  Bibles,  dependent  as  that  was  in  early  days 
upon  the  accuracy  and  honesty  of  thousands  of  individual 
copyists,  on  the  correctness  of  translations,  on  the  preserva- 
tion of  manuscripts,  and,  in  these  last  centuries,  on  the  care 
of  printers.  The  Ministry,  as  the  New  Testament  and  all 
ancient  history  testify,  necessarily  existed  before  a  word  of 
the  New  Testament  was  written.  It  was  not  an  institu- 
tion growing  out  of  the  teaching  of  the  New  Testament 
(which  was  not  completed  until  two  generations  after  the 

1  2  Cor.  xi,  13;  Rev.  ii,  2. 

2  It  has  been  mathematically  calculated  that,  even  if  we  make  the 
absurd  supposition  of  one  consecrator  in  every  twenty  being  at  all  times 
without  valid  consecration,  the  chances  against  a.  Bishop  consecrated  under 
such  circumstances  are  as  one  to  512,000  millions!  See  Gladstone,  Church 
Principles,  pp.  235,  236. 


THE  ORDINAL  AND  THE  SUCCESSION  387 


Church's  birth),  but,  on  the  contrary,  every  writer  of  these 
sacred  Scriptures  was  a  member  of  that  Ministry.  More- 
over, it  is  upon  the  continuous  witness  of  their  successors, 
and  of  the  whole  Church  which  they  ruled  and  fed,  that  we 
believe  these  Scriptures  to  be  indeed  the  Word  of  God.1 

(2)  A  second  objection,  formerly  made  by  the  Puritans, 
and  one  that  is  still  common,  is  that  referred  to  and 
refuted  in  the  26th  Article  of  Religion,  concerning  "the 
unworthiness  of  the  Ministers."  This  perhaps  is  "the  main 
obstacle  which  any  theory  of  ministerial  authority  and 
commission,  officially  transmitted,  has  to  encounter," 
and  "which  has  so  often  in  history  prejudiced  the  minds 
of  men  against  the  very  idea  of  their  office." 

It  is  concerning  this  objection  that  Bishop  Gore  has 
further  said:  —  "Our  Lord,  more  perhaps  than  any  other 
teacher  of  men,  had  under  observation  the  failure  of  priest- 
hoods and  offices  of  trust,  in  temporal  things  and  spiritual. 
He  was  subject  to  no  illusions  about  human  trustworthi- 
ness. He  knew  all  the  misuse  of  the  office  of  stewardship, 
'the  power  of  the  keys.'  He  knew  the  desolating  havoc 
that  has  been  wrought  by  those  who  misused  their  trust, 
—  who  'took  away  the  key  of  knowledge/  .  .  .  And  yet,  on 
reconstituting  the  people  of  God  on  a  new  basis,  in  found- 
ing the  new  Israel,  He  deliberately  again  commits  to  men 
the  powers  which  He  knew  to  be  so  liable  to  abuse.  He 
contemplates  in  the  stewards  of  His  household,  after  He 
was  gone,  violence  and  debauchery  and  apathy  and  un- 
faithfulness. He  contemplates  failure  of  faith  on  the 
largest  scale.2  And  yet  He  made  men  stewards  of  His 
household.  He  gave  them,  according  to  one  report,  the 
keys  of  the  Kingdom,  not  of  earth  only,  but  of  heaven, 

1  See  the  6th  and  the  20th  Articles  of  Religion. 

1  S.  Matt,  xxiv,  48,  49;  xxv,  26;  S.  Luke  xii,  45;  xviii,  8. 


388   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  W  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


the  binding  and  loosing  power,  with  a  heavenly  sanction, 
over  their  fellow  men,  and,  according  to  another  report,  the 
power  to  forgive  and  retain  their  sins.  ...  It  was  with 
the  weakness  of  the  human  instrument  full  in  view  that 
Jesus  Christ  entrusted  to  men  the  spiritual  charge  over 
their  fellows.,,  1 

From  what  has  been  already  said  it  is  plain  that  the  re- 
visers of  the  ancient  Ordinal  of  the  Church  of  England  in 
1550  were  only  stating  the  simplest  and  most  unassailable 
of  historic  facts,  when  they  declared  in  the  Preface  of  our 
present  Office:  —  "It  is  evident  unto  all  men,  diligently 
reading  Holy  Scripture  and  ancient  Authors,  that  from 
the  Apostles*  time  there  have  been  these  Orders  of  Min- 
isters in  Christ's  Church,  —  Bishops,  Priests,  and  Deacons"; 
and  that  a  necessary  inference  from  this  was  the  rule  that 
"no  man  shall  be  accounted  or  taken  to  be  a  lawful  Bishop, 
Priest,  or  Deacon  in  the  Church  of  England  [or,  as  it  is  in 
the  Scottish  and  American  books,  this  Church~\,  or  suf- 
fered to  execute  any  of  the  said  Functions,  except  he  be 
called,  tried,  examined,  and  admitted  thereunto,  according 
to  the  Form  hereafter  following,  or  hath  had  Episcopal 
Consecration  or  Ordination." 

This  was  a  declaration  which  the  wild  theories  of  such 
intemperate  reformers  as  Luther,  Calvin,  Zwingli,  Knox, 
and  others  forced  from  the  Church,  and  which  is  even  more 
needful  in  our  day  when  the  ripe  fruit  of  their  revolutionary 
and  anarchistic  theories  is  seen  in  nearly  200  sects  in  the 
British  Empire  and  the  United  States  alone,  and  in  the  most 
widespread  loss  of  faith  in  the  very  fundamental  truths  of 
Christianity,  especially  in  their  original  centres,  Germany 
and  Switzerland. 

It  is,  moreover,  a  strange,  forced,  and  unnatural  inter- 

1  Orders  and  Unity,  pp.  17,  18. 


THE  ORDINAL  AND  THE  SUCCESSION  389 


pretation  that  would  make  the  words  "in  the  Church  of 
England,"  or  "in  this  Church,"  to  mean  "this  Church 
only";  and  that,  outside  of  "this  Church,"  persons  who 
have  not  received  "Episcopal  Consecration  or  Ordination" 
may  be  just  as  really  and  as  fully  the  commissioned  Min- 
isters of  Christ  as  those  who  have!  This  is  surely  a  strange 
logic,  which  every  branch  of  the  Anglican  Communion  is 
so  far  from  accepting  that,  while  Bishops,  Priests,  and 
Deacons  coming  to  it  from  the  Roman,  Greek,  or  other 
branches  of  the  ancient  Catholic  Church  are  received 
without  any  reordination,  nevertheless,  the  most  learned 
and  eminent  minister  of  any  of  the  Protestant  denomina- 
tions must  be  both  confirmed  and  ordained  like  any  lay- 
man among  ourselves  desirous  of  Holy  Orders. 

It  does  not  follow,  however,  that  God  does  not  bless  the 
zealous  labors  of  men  whose  only  authority  comes  from  the 
choice  and  act  of  their  fellow  men,  in  some  self-consti- 
tuted society  of  believers.  All  this  is  freely  granted,  and 
we  may  "rejoice"  with  S.  Paul  that  "in  every  way,  whether 
in  pretence  or  in  truth,  Christ  is  preached."  1  God  never 
refuses  His  blessing  to  any  word  or  effort  spoken  or  made 
"out  of  an  honest  and  good  heart"  in  His  Name.  His 
cup  "runneth  over."  But  this  fact  does  not  in  the  least 
affect  or  diminish  our  own  duty  to  use  for  ourselves  only 
that  ministry  which  bears  the  test  of  S.  John's  great  law 
that  it  has  been  "from  the  beginning"  2  and  therefore  has 
necessarily  the  authority  of  Christ,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
which  He  gave  to  guide  His  Church  into  all  truth.  That 
much  good  comes  from  these  individual  efforts  of  men  or 
organizations  must  not  blind  us  to  the  fact  of  the  fearful 
losses,  and  positive  evils,  the  criminal  waste  of  men  and  of 
means,  that  necessarily  result  from  those  divisions  which 

1  Phil,  i,  18.  8  1  S.  John  ii,  7;  iii,  11;  2  S.  John  5. 


39o   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


our  Lord  warned  and  prayed  against.  Chief  of  these,  as 
He  foresaw,  is  the  failure  of  the  vast  majority  of  "the  world" 
to  believe  that  the  Father  had  sent  Him  to  redeem  it.1 

The  Revised  Ordinal  was  not  published  until  1550, 
nearly  a  year  after  the  publication  of  the  First  Prayer 
Book.  In  this  revision  there  was  little  or  nothing  new  or 
difFerent  from  the  services  which  had  preceded  it,  except 
that  it  was  marked  with  great  simplicity  and  directness 
of  purpose  in  contrast  with  the  earlier  Office.  The  essen- 
tial part  of  all  ordinations,  as  seen  in  the  New  Testament 
in  every  case,2  and  in  the  primitive  Liturgies,  consisted 
in  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the  Apostle  or  Apostle- 
Bishop  with  prayer.  But  to  these  had  been  added  in  later 
days,  in  the  English  Church  and  elsewhere,  such  ceremonies 
as  the  anointing  of  the  hands  of  the  ordinands,  and  the  pres- 
entation to  Priests  of  the  vessels  for  Holy  Communion 
(traditio  or  porrectio  instrumentorum) ,  which  so  overlaid  and 
obscured  the  essential  action,  removed  as  this  was  to  the 
very  end  of  the  service,  that  it  was  almost  completely 
lost  to  sight.  In  fact,  this  "tradition"  or  handing  of  the 
chalice  and  paten,  accompanied  by  the  words,  "Receive 
power  to  offer  sacrifice,"  etc.,  was  held  to  be  the  real  "mat- 


1  S.  John  xvii,  21.  The  Ordinal  was  not  printed  as  a  part  of  the  first 
revised  Book,  nor  is  it  properly  speaking  a  part  of  the  Book  of  Common 
Prayer  today.  Though  bound  up  with  it  and  subject  to  the  same  condi- 
tions in  regard  to  alteration,  it  forms  a  separate  book  for  the  use  of  Bishops, 
corresponding  to  what  was  known  in  the  mediaeval  Church  of  England 
as  the  Pontifical;  and  to  it  are  added,  in  the  American  Church,  "The 
Form  of  Consecration  of  a  Church  or  Chapel,"  and  "An  Office  of  Institu- 
tion of  Ministers  into  Parishes  or  Churches."  In  the  Irish  Book  of  1877 
there  are  also  forms  for  "The  Consecration  of  a  Church,"  and  of  "a 
Churchyard  or  other  Burial  Ground."  The  Confirmation  Service  of 
course,  belongs  to  this  book  for  the  use  of  Bishops. 

2  Acts  vi,  6;  xiii,  3;  xiv,  23;  1  Tim.  iv,  14;  v,  22;  2  Tim.  i,  6. 


THE  ORDINAL  AND  THE  SUCCESSION  391 

ter"  of  ordination  of  a  Priest,  though  it  is  confessed  by 
Roman  writers  that  this  was  not  the  practice  until  the 
tenth  century.1 

The  revision  of  1550  was  therefore  simply  a  return 
to  primitive  practice  as  found  in  the  New  Testament 
and  the  ancient  Ordinals.  In  the  Ordination  of  Priests 
the  giving  into  the  hand  of  "the  chalice  or  cuppe  with 
the  bread,"  was  retained,  but  came  after  (and  not  before, 
as  in  the  mediaeval  Office)  the  laying  on  of  hands.  The 
unction  therefore  was  the  principal  ceremony  lacking  in 
the  first  revised  Ordinal.  The  novel  custom  of  giving 
the  chalice  or  paten  was  abandoned  in  the  Book  of  1552, 
and  has  never  been  restored.  The  giving  of  a  copy  of 
the  New  Testament  to  the  Deacon,  and  of  the  whole 
Bible  to  the  Priest,  immediately  after  ordination,  was  re- 
quired in  the  Ordinal  of  1550,  and  is  still  retained.  It 
may  well  be  regretted  that  one  beautiful  ceremonial  act, 
incapable  of  superstitious  interpretation,  as  permitted  in  the 
Book  of  1550,  namely,  the  putting  into  the  hand  of  the  newly 
consecrated  Bishop  "the  pastorall  staffe,"  was  not  re- 
tained. The  touching  words  in  bestowing  it,  however, 
"Be  to  the  flock  of  Christ  a  shepherd,''  etc.,  were  retained, 
and  added  on  to  the  address  at  the  giving  of  the  Bible. 

When  it  is  considered,  moreover,  that  the  vast  majority 
of  the  Christian  world,  probably  350  millions,  still  possess 
and  hold  fast  the  three  sacred  Orders  which  have  come  to 
them  "from  the  Apostles'  time,"  with  all  the  sanction  of 
divine  authority,  it  is  inconceivable,  and  would  be  most 
unreasonable  and  futile,  that  they  should  give  up  this  sacred 
heritage  in  order  to  meet  the  widely  divergent  views  of 
nearly  two  hundred  different  organizations  of  Christians 

1  See  Lowndes,  Vindication  of  Anglican  Orders,  vol.  i,  pp.  37,  38,  291, 
295  [New  York  and  London,  1897]. 


392   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


that  have  sprung  into  existence  since  the  sixteenth  century, 
and  have  it  not. 

These  ancient  Apostolic  Churches  may  have  much  to 
learn  about  neglected  truths  from  some  of  these  separated 
bodies,  but  they  have  also  much  to  give.  It  is  for  this 
reason,  and  not  from  any  desire  to  "be  lords  over  God's 
heritage,"  1  that  the  great  assembly  of  Bishops  of  the  whole 
Anglican  Communion,  assembled  at  Lambeth  in  1888, 
adopted  as  their  own,  with  a  slight  change  of  wording, 
the  four  fundamental  principles  formulated  by  the  Bishops 
of  the  American  Church  in  1886,  "as  essential  to  the  re- 
storation of  unity."  These  are:  —  (1)  "The  holy  Scrip- 
tures of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  as  containing  all 
things  necessary  to  salvation,  and  as  being  the  rule  and 
ultimate  standard  of  faith;  (2)  the  Apostles'  Creed  as  the 
Baptismal  Symbol;  and  the  Nicene  Creed  as  the  sufficient 
statement  of  the  Christian  Faith;  (3)  The  two  Sacraments 
ordained  by  Christ  Himself — Baptism  and  the  Supper  of 
the  Lord  —  administered  with  unfailing  use  of  Christ's 
words  of  institution,  and  of  the  elements  ordained  by  Him; 
(4)  The  historic  Episcopate,  locally  adapted  in  the  methods 
of  its  administration  to  the  varying  needs  of  the  nations 
called  of  God  into  the  unity  of  His  Church." 

In  view,  then,  of  what  we  have  learnt  from  "Holy 
Scripture  and  Ancient  Authors,"  as  well  as  from  other 
facts  of  history,  it  is  evident  that  to  give  up  this  sacred 
trust  of  the  Apostolic  Succession  in  the  Ministry  would  not 
be  to  advance  the  cause  of  unity  among  Christians,  but 
to  make  it  impossible. 

1  1  Pet.  v,  3. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX 
Ordinals,  Primitive,  Medieval,  and  Modern 


"Nihil  in  hac  vita  est  difficilius,  laboriosius,  periculosius,  presbyteri  vita." 
("Nothing  in  this  life  is  more  difficult,  more  laborious,  more  fraught 
with  peril  than  the  life  of  a  presbyter.")  —  S.  Augustine. 


iHOUGH  the  Ordinal  is  not  an  essential  part  of  the 


1  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  as  not  in  itself  an  Office 
of  public  worship,  its  place,  according  to  all  ancient  cus- 
tom, is  found  in  the  midst  of  the  Church's  highest  act  of 
devotion,  the  Holy  Eucharist.1  All  the  earliest  Ordinals  of 
which  we  have  copies  are  so  placed,  -  and  an  examina- 
tion of  some  of  these  which  have  only  lately  come  to  light 
testifies  in  the  strongest  way  to  the  learning  and  wisdom 
of  the  Bishops  and  other  Clergy  who  did  the  work  of  re- 
vision in  the  sixteenth  century.  Dr.  Maclean,  Bishop  of 
Moray,  Ross,  and  Caithness,  in  his  lectures  on  "Recent 
Discoveries  Illustrating  Early  Christian  Worship"  writes 
as  follows:  —  "The  last  generation  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury has  been  singularly  fortunate  in  the  discovery  of  lit- 
erature which  throws  light  on  early  Christian  life  and 
worship.  .  .  .  The  light  thrown  on  fourth  century  usage  is 
very  great;  but  some  is  also  thrown  on  that  of  the  third 
century,  and  even  of  the  second."  There  are  nine  of  these 
"Church  Orders,"  as  they  are  called,  five  of  them  recent 
discoveries,  which  treat  especially  of  Ordination.2 

1  Compare  Acts  xiii,  2,  where  "as  they  ministered"  [\eiTovpyo0uTwv2 
is  interpreted  by  some  as  referring  to  Holy  Communion. 

2  S.  P.  C.  K.  1904,  p.  6.  The  latest  discoveries  are:  —  Canons  of 
Hippolytus  (a.d.  220),  Latin  trans.;  Verona  Latin  Fragments,  part  iii. 
(a.d.  340);    Testament  of  our  Lord  (a.d.  350;    possibly  re-edited  about 


394   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

Speaking  of  the  manner  of  ordaining  to  the  ministry, 
as  seen  in  the  light  of  these  Church  Orders,  Bishop  Mac- 
lean writes:  —  "In  the  case  of  Bishops,  Presbyters,  and 
Deacons,  the  ordination  consisted  of  a  single  prayer,  with 
laying  on  of  hands,  or  more  generally  the  laying  on  of  one 
hand.  .  .  .  The  usage  [in  the  ordination  of  a  Bishop]  is  not 
quite  the  same  in  all  the  Church  Orders.  In  some  of  them 
one  Bishop,  chosen  by  the  rest,  lays  on  his  hand,  and  says 
the  prayer  of  ordination,  all  the  others  being  silent;  in 
the  Ethiopic  Church  Order  all  the  Bishops  lay  on  hands, 
and  all  say  the  prayer;  in  the  Egyptian  Church  Order  all 
lay  on  hands  in  silence,  and  then  one  of  the  Bishops  again 
lays  on  hands  and  prays;  in  the  Testament  of  our  Lord 
and  the  Arabic  Didascalia  all  the  Bishops  lay  on  hands  and 
say  a  declaration,  after  which  one  Bishop  lays  on  hands 
and  says  the  prayer  of  ordination;  in  the  Apostolic  Con- 
stitutions three  Bishops  are  selected,  the  rest  praying  in 
silence.  .  .  .  The  prayer  in  all  these  authorities  is  practically 
the  same;  that  is,  a  common  original  underlies  them  all. 
.  .  .  If  we  put  these  prayers  side  by  side,  and  leave  out  any- 
thing that  is  not  common  to  them  all,  we  shall  doubtless 
arrive  at  a  more  or  less  accurate  reconstruction  of  the  origi- 
nal prayer  of  ordination,  which  will  therefore  take  us  back 
probably  to  the  second  century,  to  the  time  of  Irenaeus. 
.  .  .  We  get  then  the  following:  — 

"*0  God,  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  Father  of  mer- 
cies and  God  of  all  comfort,  who  dwellest  in  the  heights  and 


a.d.  400),  English  trans.;  Arabic  Didascalia,  appendix  (a.d.  380), 
German  trans.;  The  Prayer  Book  of  Sarapion  (a.d.  350),  English  trans. 
The  others  are:  —  Egyptian  Church  Order  (a.d.  310),  English  trans.; 
Ethiopic  Church  Order  (a.d.  335),  Latin  trans.;  Constitutions  through 
Hippolytus  (a.d.  375);  Apostolic  Constitutions,  Book  VIII.  (a.d.  375), 
English  trans. 


ORDINALS,  PRIMITIVE,  tfc.  395 


lookest  on  humble  things,  who  knowest  all  things  before 
they  are,  who  hast  constituted  the  bounds  of  the  Church, 
by  whose  power  it  is  that  there  should  remain  a  just  race 
which  is  from  Abraham,  who  hast  constituted  prelacies 
and  principalities,  give  [to  Thy  servant]  Thy  power  and 
effectual  [or  princely]  Spirit,  whom  Thou  gavest  through 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  Thy  only  Son,  to  the  holy  Apostles, 
who  founded  the  Church  in  every  place  to  the  honor  and 
glory  of  Thy  holy  Name.  Forasmuch  as  Thou  knowest 
the  heart  of  each  one,  grant  him  to  be  worthy  to  feed  Thy 
great  and  holy  flock,  and  receive  his  prayers  and  offerings 
which  he  shall  offer  to  Thee  day  and  night,  and  may  they  be 
to  Thee  a  sweet  savour.  Give  also  to  him,  O  Lord,  the 
episcopate  and  a  mild  spirit  and  power  to  forgive  sins; 
and  give  him  the  ability  to  loose  all  bonds,  through  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  whom  be  glory  to  Thee,  with  Him, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost,  for  ever.  Amen.'"1 

In  the  ordination  of  a  Presbyter  the  oldest  manuals 
direct  that  the  same  prayer  is  to  be  used,  except  that  the 
word  Presbyter  is  to  be  substituted  for  Bishop.  In  most 
of  these  Church  Orders  no  priestly  function  is  specified  in 
the  prayer.  "I  mention  this,"  writes  Dr.  Maclean,  "to 
show  how  unwarranted  is  the  objection  in  the  Papal  Bull 
on  Anglican  Orders,2  that  the  words  used  at  the  laying  on 
of  hands  in  our  Ordinal  do  not  refer  to  priestly  or  sacri- 
ficial functions."  "The  custom  of  Presbyters  assisting  at 
the  ordination  of  a  Presbyter  by  laying  on  of  hands,"  he 
adds,  "or  by  'touching'  the  ordained,  is  very  ancient.  .  .  . 
On  the  other  hand,  the  Bishop  acts  alone  in  ordaining  a 
Deacon."  3  In  the  setting  apart  of  lower  orders,  subdeacon, 
etc.,  there  was  no  laying  on  of  hands. 

1  Maclean,  Recent  Discoveries,  etc.,  pp.  108-110. 

2  Apostolus  Curat,  by  Leo  XIII,  1896.  3  Ibid.  p.  in. 


396   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fcf  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

We  are  now  in  a  position  to  see  how  intelligently  the  re- 
visers of  1550,  even  with  much  less  light  from  "ancient 
Authors"  and  Liturgies  than  is  possessed  by  us,  did  their 
work.  They  found  both  the  old  English  Sarum  and  the 
Roman  Ordinals  so  overlaid  by  mediaeval  ceremonies, 
borrowed  from  feudal  customs,  and  in  such  confused  order, 
that  the  essential  part  of  the  service  as  seen  in  the  New 
Testament,  and  in  these  early  Ordinals,  was  so  obscured  as 
to  be  almost  completely  lost  to  sight.  This  was  particu- 
larly true  of  the  ordination  to  the  Priesthood,  where,  ac- 
cording to  the  mediaeval  doctrine,  the  real  ordination  was 
effected  by  the  giving  of  the  instruments  {traditio,  or 
porrectio,  instrumentorum) ,  that  is,  the  putting  of  the 
chalice  and  paten,  with  unconsecrated  wine  and  wafers, 
into  the  hands  of  the  ordinand,  accompanied  by  the  words; 
"Take  the  power  of  offering  sacrifice  in  the  Church  for  the 
living  and  the  dead:  In  the  Name,"  etc.1  This,  in  fact, 
was  held  to  be  the  real  "matter"  and  "form"  of  ordination 
of  a  Priest,  though  it  is  confessed  by  Roman  writers  that 
it  was  not  the  custom  until  the  tenth  century,  and  many 
modern  authors  of  that  Communion  have  expressed  grave 
doubts  as  to  its  propriety.  The  present  Roman  Pontifical 
still  makes  the  traditio  instrumentorum  the  central  part 
of  the  service.2  Other  ceremonies  preceding  this  are  the 
anointing  of  the  hands  of  the  candidate,  the  placing  of  the 
hands  of  the  Bishop  on  his  head  without  saying  anything 
{nihil  dicens),  after  which  he  is  still  called  ordinandus,  or 
a  candidate,  and  it  is  not  until  the  very  end  of  the  Office 

1  "It  was  of  the  essence  of  feudalism  that  all  power  was  conveyed  by 
the  delivery  into  the  hands  of  the  appointee  of  something  significant  of 
the  power  conveyed  —  the  keys  of  a  fortress  or  of  a  city  gate,  a  sod  of 
earth,  a  few  grains  of  corn,"  etc.  (Lowndes,  Vindication  of  Anglican  Orders^ 
I,  209  [Rivingtons,  London;  Gorham,  N.  Y.,  1897]). 

2  Ibid.  I,  pp.  37,  38,  I79-I97>  29i»  295- 


ORDINALS,  PRIMITIVE,  fefc.  397 

when  all  the  "  Priests,"  including  the  candidates,  have 
communicated,  that  the  Bishop  lays  his  hands  on  his  head 
saying,  "Receive  the  Holy  Ghost,  whose  sins  thou  shalt 
remit,"  etc. 1 

These  are  some  of  the  defects  and  inconsistencies  of  the 
Roman  Ordinal,  and  in  a  measure  of  the  mediaeval  English 
as  well.  Concerning  the  former  a  Jesuit  writer  is  com- 
pelled to  say:  —  "It  is  certain  that  the  subject  of  the  cere- 
mony, who  was  not  a  Priest  at  the  beginning,  is  a  Priest  at 
the  end,  but  the  difficulty  is  to  tell  at  what  part  of  the 
ceremony  he  became  a  Priest." 2  Concerning  the  two 
Ordinals  Dr.  Lowndes  has  well  said:  —  "A  candid  com- 
parison of  the  Roman  with  the  Edwardine  Ordinal  will 
show  that  the  prayers  in  the  former  do  not  set  forth  the 
dignity  and  office  of  the  Priesthood  as  weightily  as  the 
Edwardine.  That  the  Roman  contains  no  special  Epistle 
or  Gospel.  That  the  solemn  priestly  vows  of  the  Ed- 
wardine are  completely  lacking  in  the  Roman.  That  the 
scattered  allusions  in  the  various  prayers  to  the  power  of 
the  candidate  to  celebrate  Mass  are  not  equal  in  force 
to  the  one  simple  expression  of  authoritative  power  said  to 
the  Anglican  Priest  at  the  indisputable  moment  of  his 
ordination,  'Be  thou  a  faithful  dispenser  of  the  Word  of 
God  and  of  His  Holy  Sacraments.'"  And  again:  —  "In 
all  Christendom  it  may  be  boldly  affirmed  that  no  Church 
has  been  as  jealous  as  the  Church  of  England,  and  the 
Churches  in  communion  with  her,  in  upholding  the  honor 
and  dignity  of  the  Christian  Priesthood  in  relation  to  its 
gift  of  forgiveness  and  retention  of  sins.  No  Church  has 
ever  in  her  Service  Books  given  such  a  prominence  to  the 
remission  of  sins  as  is  given  in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer; 

1  Maskell,  A/on.  Ritualia  Ecc.  Anglic,  III,  204,  219. 

2  Hunter,  Outlines  of  Dogmatic  Theology,  III,  378. 


398   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP     THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


.  .  .  the  power  of  binding  and  loosing  in  Baptism,  in  the 
Holy  Eucharist,  by  Word  and  Doctrine,  by  Prayer,  by 
Absolution  on  Confession,  by  Remission  of  Ecclesiastical  Cen- 
sures. If  her  children  have  been  neglectful  of  their  responsi- 
bilities and  of  their  privileges  at  any  period  of  her  history, 
it  has  been  their  fault,  and  not  that  of  their  Mother."  1 

It  is  not  necessary  to  examine  in  detail  the  Ordinal  as 
we  possess  it  today.  Though  the  first  revised  Book  was 
published  in  1549,  the  Ordinal  did  not  appear  until  the 
following  year,  and  few  changes  were  made  in  1552  and 
1662.  In  this  revision  there  was  little  or  nothing  new  or 
different  from  the  ancient  Ordinals,  except  that  it  was 
marked  with  great  simplicity  and  directness  of  purpose. 
The  essential  part  of  all  ordinations,  as  seen  in  every  case 
in  the  New  Testament,2  and  in  the  primitive  Liturgies,  con- 
sisted in  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the  Apostle,  or  Apos- 
tle-Bishop, with  prayer,  and  this,  which  had  been  sadly 
obscured  in  the  mediaeval  Ordinals,  was  carefully  restored. 
The  primitive,  and  probably  Apostolic  rule  of  conferring 
Holy  Orders  during  a  celebration  of  the  Holy  Eucharist 
was  continued.3 

It  is  noteworthy,  moreover,  that  in  all  the  revisions  the 
word  Priest  (sacerdos),  which  was  the  almost  universal  use 

1  Vindication,  etc.,  I,  pp.  195,  351.  Compare  the  36th  Art.  of  Religion. 
The  present  Roman  Ordinal  in  English,  compared  with  the  ancient  Roman 
ordinals  of  Leo,  Gelasius,  and  Gregory  [5th  and  6th  centuries],  is  given 
in  full  in  Ordinals  Past  and  Present,  by  J.  B.  Smith  [Parker,  London,  1898]. 
It  is  also  given  by  Dr.  Lowndes  in  Vol.  II,  appendices  V  and  VI.  The 
Sarum  Ordinal  in  the  original  Latin  is  given  by  Maskell,  Mon.  Rit.  Ill, 
154-280.  For  the  purpose  of  comparing  our  present  Ordinal  with  this, 
of  which  it  is  a  revision,  an  outline  of  the  former  will  be  found  as  an 
appendix  to  the  present  chapter. 

2  Acts  vi,  6;  xiii,  3;  xiv,  23;  1  Tim.  iv,  14;  v,  22;  2  Tim.  i,  6. 

3  Maskell,  III,  158,  note. 


ORDINALS,  PRIMITIVE,  tfc 


399 


of  the  old  English  Office,  as  contrasted  with  the  almost 
universal  use  of  the  word  presbyter  in  the  Roman,  was  re- 
tained, even  in  the  Book  of  1552,  in  spite  of  the  constant 
opposition  of  the  Puritan  party. 

The  "Form  of  Consecration  of  a  Church  or  Chapel," 
and  an  "Office  of  Institution  of  Ministers  into  Par- 
ishes or  Churches,"  follow  the  Ordinal  in  the  American 
Book,  inasmuch  as  they  belong  to  the  special  functions  of  a 
Bishop.  The  original  of  the  Consecration  service  was  an 
Office  prepared  by  Bishop  Andrewes  of  Winchester  for  the 
consecration  of  a  chapel  near  Southampton  in  1620,  and 
was  adopted  in  substance  by  the  Convocation  of  Canter- 
bury in  171 2,  though  not  made  part  of  the  Prayer  Book. 
In  1799,  with  slight  changes,  it  was  incorporated  into  the 
American  Book,  and  in  1877  into  the  Irish.  In  the  latter 
there  is  added  a  brief  form  for  "the  Consecration  of  a  Church- 
yard, or  other  Burial  Ground." 

The  American  Church  provides  by  canon  "that  the  build- 
ing and  the  ground  on  which  it  is  erected"  must  have  been 
"fully  paid  for,  and  are  free  from  lien  or  other  encumbrance; 
and  also  that  such  building  and  ground  are  secured  from 
the  danger  of  alienation,  either  in  whole  or  in  part,  from 
those  who  profess  and  practise  the  Doctrine,  Discipline, 
and  Worship  of  this  Church." 

The  "Office  of  Institution  of  Ministers,"  Dr.  Samuel 
Hart,  official  Custodian  of  the  American  Prayer  Book, 
says,  "was  drawn  up  in  1799  at  the  request  of  the  Con- 
vention of  the  Diocese  of  Connecticut  by  the  Rev.  Dr. 
William  Smith  of  Norwalk.  It  was  formally  accepted  by 
the  Diocesan  Convention  of  Connecticut  in  1804,  but  two 
years  before  that  time  it  had  been  adopted  by  the  Conven- 
tion of  the  Diocese  of  New  York.  In  1804  it  was  adopted 
also  by  the  General  Convention,  which  four  years  later 


4oo   PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP     THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


changed  its  title  [' Induction']  to  its  present  form,  and  made 
its  use  discretionary."  1  The  Office  consists  of  the  Bishop's 
"Letter  of  Institution"  giving  "Licence  and  Authority  to 
perform  the  Office  of  a  Priest  in  the  Parish  [or  Church]  of 
E.  .  .  .  possessed  of  full  power  to  perform  every  act  of 
sacerdotal  Function  among  the  People  of  the  same.  .  .  . 
You  are  faithfully  to  feed  that  portion  of  the  flock  of  Christ 
which  is  now  entrusted  to  you;  not  as  a  man-pleaser,  but 
as  continually  bearing  in  mind  that  you  are  accountable  to 
us  here,  and  to  the  Chief  Bishop  and  Sovereign  Judge  of 
all,  hereafter,,,  etc.2 

The  Proper  Psalms  are  122,  132,  and  133;  the  Lessons, 
Ezek.  xxxiii  to  v.  10,  and  S.  John  x  to  v.  19.  The  Insti- 
tution is  followed  by  the  Holy  Communion,  which  is  here 
called  "the  Holy  Eucharist,,,  and  the  words  "altar"  and 
"sacerdotal"  are  used  several  times.  Another  peculiarity 
is  the  use  of  the  words  "Senior"  and  "Junior"  for  desig- 
nating the  two  Wardens,  though  the  terms  are  unknown 
to  canonical  legislation  both  in  America  and  England. 
"This  Office  of  Institution,"  Dean  Hart  says,  "has  really 
no  legal  value  either  civil  or  ecclesiastical;  but  it  has  an 
educational  and  moral  value."  3  As  an  integral  part  of  the 
Prayer  Book  it  has,  nevertheless,  the  same  authority  as 
any  other  in  the  Book.4 

1  Dean  Hart,  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  p.  284. 

2  In  1820  the  General  Convention  declared  this  Office  "of  equal  au- 
thority with  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer." 

3  Ibid.  285. 

4  The  thirty-nine  "Articles  of  Religion,"  though  bound  up  as  an 
appendix  to  the  Prayer  Book,  form  no  essential  part  of  it.  .  It  is  to  be 
observed  that  they  are  in  no  sense  a  substitute  for  the  Catholic  Creeds, 
nor  a  complete  system  of  doctrine.  They  are  "Articles  of  Religion,"  and 
not  of  Faith,  though  many  of  them,  especially  the  first  eight,  deal  with 
fundamental  truths.    Their  purpose  is  well  defined  in  the  Royal  Declara- 


ORDINALS,  PRIMITIVE,  cjfc 


APPENDIX  TO  CHAPTER  XXXIX 

The  Sarum  Ordinal,  or  Pontifical  —  Celebratio  Ordi- 
num,  and  Consecratio  electi  in  Episcopum. 

The  text  referred  to  is  that  given  by  Maskell,  Mon.  Rit. 
Ecc.  Anglic,  III,  154-225  and  241-280.  The  first  portion, 
pp.  154-185,  deals  with  the  ordination  of  doorkeepers  (ostia- 
fit),  readers  (lectores),  exorcists  (exorcistae),  acolytes  (acolyti), 
and  subdeacons  (subdiaconi) .  The  second  portion,  pp. 
185-225,  gives  the  order  for  Deacons  and  Priests.  The 
third,  pp.  240-280,  is  the  form  for  consecrating  a  Bishop. 
The  second  and  third  portions  alone,  with  the  preface  to 
the  first,  are  given  here  in  outline. 

1.  Address  (sermo  sub  hac  forma)  on  Orders  in  general 
(pp.  154-157). 


tion  of  1562,  where  it  is  said  that  they  are  for  the  avoidance  of  "unneces- 
sary Disputations,  Altercations,  or  Questions  which  may  nourish  Faction 
both  in  the  Church  and  Commonwealth."  Their  germ  is  found  in  the 
"Ten  Articles"  adopted  by  Convocation  in  1536,  followed  by  the  "Thir- 
teen Articles"  in  1538,  and  later,  by  the  reactionary  "Bloody  Statute 
of  the  Six  Articles."  In  1553  Convocation  issued  forty-two  Articles  pre- 
pared by  Cranmer,  but  these  were  abrogated  the  same  year.  In  1562 
thirty-eight  Articles  were  adopted  by  the  Convocation  of  Canterbury, 
prepared  by  Archbishop  Parker.  In  1571  the  final  revision  of  the  Articles, 
now  thirty-nine,  took  place,  being  adopted  by  both  Convocations,  and  by 
Parliament,  and  published  both  in  Latin  and  in  English.  The  American 
Church  in  1801  adopted  the  Articles  as  a  whole,  but  left  out  the  reference 
to  the  Athanasian  Creed  in  Article  8,  and  omitted  Article  21  entirely, 
while  it  retained  the  old  numbering.  It  provided  also  a  special  title-page. 
Up  to  the  year  1865  the  clergy  of  the  Church  of  England  were  required  to 
"sign  the  Articles,"  but  in  that  year  this  was  abolished  and  the  following 
declaration  was  substituted:  —  "I  assent  to  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  of 
Religion,  and  to  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,"  etc.  The  American 
Church  requires  only  the  general  declaration  "to  conform"  to  the  Church's 
"  Doctrine,  Discipline,  and  Worship. ' '   See  Article  VIII,  of  the  Constitution. 


4o2  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  W  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


2.  Presentation  of  all  candidates  to  Bishop,  Bishop's 
caution  {Vide  ut  natura,  etc.),  and  address  to  people  (Si  quis) 
(pp.  160-162). 

Ordination  of  Deacons 

3.  Presentation  of  candidates  for  Deacons'  and  Priests' 
Orders,  followed  by  Litany  (p.  185). 

4.  Admonition  to  the  Deacon  ordinands  (p.  191). 

5.  Laying  on  of  hand  (manum)  saying  secretly  (dicens 
solus  secrete),  "Receive  the  Holy  Spirit"  (Accipe  Spiritum 
Sanctum),  followed  by  prayer  (pp.  192-197). 

6.  Placing  of  stole  on  left  shoulder,  and  giving  the  book 
of  the  Gospels  (librum  Evangeliorum) ,  with  "authority  to 
read  it  in  the  Church  of  God"  (Accipe  potestatem  legendi 
Evangelium  in  Ecclesia  Dei).  "This  rite  of  delivering  the 
Gospels  was  for  many  ages  peculiar  to  the  English  Church. 
.  .  .  Martene  says  it  is  not  to  be  found  in  any  pontifical 
before  the  tenth  century,  those  of  the  English  use  alone  ex- 
cepted." The  original  and  earliest  rubric,  as  it  stands  in  the 
English  pontificals  of  the  eighth  century,  gives  the  words, 
"Receive,  etc.  Read,  and  understand,  and  hand  on  to 
others,  and  do  thou  fulfil  it  by  thy  work"  (et  tu  opere 
adimple).    (Pp.  199,  200,  note.) 

7.  Giving  of  the  dalmatic,  a  white  vestment  with  short 
sleeves,  and  perpendicular  ornamental  stripes  in  the  color 
of  the  season  (not  noticed  in  the  Winchester  Pontifical), 
followed  by  the  reading  of  the  Gospel  (S.  Luke  iii,  1-7)  by 
one  of  the  Deacons  (pp.  201,  202). 

Ordination  of  Priests 

8.  Presentation  by  the  Archdeacon  of  ordinands  for  the 
priesthood  (sacer dotes)}  and  "Take  heed,  etc."  (Caveatury 
etc.),  with  address  (short  in  Sarum,  long  in  Winchester)  by 
the  Bishop. 

9.  Silent  blessing  by  the  Bishop,  while  he  and  all  Presby- 
ters present  (omnes  presbyteri  presentes)  hold  their  hands  over 

1  The  Roman  Ordinal  almost  always  uses  Presbyteri  instead  of  Sa- 
cerdotes.  Its  rubrics  are  always  in  the  indicative  also,  instead  of  the  im- 
perative as  in  the  English,  both  ancient  and  modern. 


ORDINALS,  PRIMITIVE,  tfc 


the  heads  of  the  ordinands,  the  Bishop  "with  one  hand 
touching,"  but  "saying  nothing"  {nihil  eis  dicente,  et  una 
manu  tangente — pp.  204,  205). 

10.  Brief  address  followed  by  prayers  for  candidates, 
after  which  the  Bishop  turns  the  stole  as  it  hangs  down  the 
deacon's  back,  placing  it  over  his  right  shoulder,  and  cross- 
ing it  over  his  breast,  while  he  says,  "Receive  the  yoke  of 
the  Lord:  for  His  yoke  is  easy,  and  His  burden  light.  The 
Lord  clothe  thee  with  the  robe  (stola)  of  innocence"  (pp. 
207,  208). 

11.  Giving  of  chasuble  with  prayer,  followed  by  the  hymn, 
"Come,  Holy  Ghost"  (Veni  Creator  Spiritus),  the  Bishop 
beginning  (incipiat),  and  the  benediction  and  anointing  of 
the  hands  of  the  ordinands  (pp.  209-213). 

12.  The  giving  of  the  paten  and  chalice  containing  un- 
consecrated  bread  and  wine,  with  the  words,  "Receive 
power  to  offer  sacrifice  to  God,  and  to  celebrate  Mass,  as 
for  the  living  so  also  for  the  dead.  In  the  Name  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ."  "No  mention  is  made  of  this  rite 
before  the  eleventh  century.  Nor  is  it  to  be  found  in  the 
early  sacramentaries  of  Gelasius  or  Gregory:  or  in  the 
often-quoted  canons  of  the  fourth  Carthaginian  council" 
(p.  214  and  note). 

13.  The  Eucharistic  service  then  proceeds,  the  newly 
ordained  "Priests"  is acer dotes)  communicate  (in  one  or 
both  kinds  is  left  uncertain),  and  not  until  then  does  the 
Bishop  lay  his  hands  on  the  head  of  each  one  separately 
(singulorum) ,  saying,  "Receive  the  Holy  Ghost:  whose 
sins  thou  shalt  remit,  they  are  remitted  unto  them:  and 
whose  sins  thou  shalt  retain,  they  shall  be  retained."  1 


1  Maskell  has  a  very  important  note  on  this  last  laying-on  of  hands:  — 
"All  the  early  pontificals  omit  this  second  imposition  of  hands;  and  ex- 
plicit delivery  of  the  power  to  remit  or  retain  sins.  It  is  not  in  the  early 
English  MSS.  of  Egbert  or  Dunstan,  or  the  Winchester  Use:  it  is  not  in 
any  of  the  foreign  Orders,  printed  by  Martene,  before  the  12th  century; 
it  is  not  in  the  old  Sacramentaries  of  S.  Gregory,  or  Gelasius:  nor  lastly, 
does  one  of  the  ancient  ritualists  .  .  .  allude  to  it  in  the  most  distant 
terms."    He  points  out  the  "considerable  difficulty"  in  which  this  places  the 


4o4  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP     THE  PRAYER  B(X)K 


Consecration  of  a  Bishop 

14.  Before  Mass  is  celebrated,  the  Bishop-elect,  vested 
as  Priest,  but  with  cope  (capa)  instead  of  chasuble  (casula), 
is  presented  by  two  Bishops  to  the  Metropolitan,  who  sits 
with  his  back  to  the  high  altar. 

15.  Examination  of  Elect  by  interrogatories  as  to  teach- 
ing, and  life,  kindness  to  poor  and  strangers,  belief  in  arti- 
cles of  the  Creed,  and  in  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  with 
oath  of  obedience  to  Metropolitan. 

16.  Beginning  of  Mass. 

17.  Vesting  of  Elect  with  sandals,  alb,  stole,  maniple, 
tunic,  dalmatic,  chasuble,  followed  by  Litany  with  special 
suffrages. 

18.  Placing  the  Book  of  the  Gospels  on  the  neck  of  the 
Elect. 

19.  The  Consecrator  and  other  Bishops  with  their  hands 
touch  (tangant)  the  head  of  the  Elect,  while  the  Consecra- 
tor begins  the  hymn,  Veni  Creator  ("Come,  Holy  Ghost"). 
The  "essential  form,"  "Receive  the  Holy  Ghost,"  as  de- 
clared by  the  Council  of  Trent,  is  lacking  here,  and  in  all 
other  English  Ordinals  except  that  of  Exeter.  Here,  there- 
fore, is  the  same  "considerable  difficulty"  for  Roman 
authorities  as  we  found  in  the  ordination  of  Priests.  The 
logical  inference  would  be  that  all  consecrations  of  Bishops 
according  to  the  ancient  Use  of  the  Church  of  England  be- 
fore the  Reformation,  except  in  the  Diocese  of  Exeter, 
were  null  and  void! 

10.  Prayers,  and  unction  of  the  head  and  hands  of  the 
Elect,  giving  of  gloves  (peculiar  to  Sarum),  pastoral  staff, 
ring,  mitre,  and  book  of  the  Gospels. 

21.  Eucharistic  Office  to  end.1 

Roman  Church,  which,  by  the  Council  of  Trent  has  declared,  according 
to  Bellarmin,  that  this  second  imposition  of  hands  with  the  accompanying 
words,  is  "  de  essentia."  If  this  be  so,  it  would  follow  that  for  a  thousand 
years  the  service  for  the  ordination  of  Priests  lacked  an  essential  part! 
(pp.  220-221,  note). 

1  Maskell,  Mon.  Rit.  Ecc.  Ang.>  III,  pp.  241-280. 


CHAPTER  XL 


Conclusion 


"0  worship  the  Lord  in  the  beauty  of  holiness."  —  Psalm  xcviy  g. 
"  The  palace  is  not  for  man,  but  for  the  Lord  God"  —  I  Chron.  xxix,  I. 


E  have  traced  the  stream  of  the  Apostolic  Liturgy 


V  ▼  as  it  issues  with  its  four  rivers,  Judaean,  Ephesine, 
Egyptian,  Roman,  from  the  one  great  spring  and  source 
of  all  Divine  Worship  in  the  Upper  Room,  until  we  find  it 
today  in  the  British  Isles,  in  North  America,  Australia,  in 
every  land  where  the  English  tongue  is  spoken,  and  among 
races  of  men  for  whom  it  has  been  translated  into  more 
than  one  hundred  other  tongues.1  Thus  with  all  its  original 
elements  unchanged  and  undiminished,  and  with  new  fea- 
tures and  enrichments  added,  it  is  yet  the  same  great  vehi- 
cle by  means  of  which,  as  in  a  censer,  the  worship  of  one  of 
the  most  powerful  and  gifted  of  "the  nations"  gathered 
into  the  kingdom  of  Christ  has  offered,  and  still  offers,  to 
God  the  worship  which  He  has  commanded.  Many  strains 
have  entered  into  it  in  its  passage  through  the  centuries. 
It  has  been  enriched  by  the  gathered  experiences  of  many 
souls  in  many  lands,  by  their  penitence,  their  longings 
after  God,  their  sense  of  need,  their  gratitude,  their  ador- 

1  Besides  Latin,  Greek,  Hebrew,  Irish,  Gaelic,  Manx,  Welsh,  French, 
Spanish,  German,  Scandinavian,  Italian,  Portuguese,  the  English  or  Ameri- 
can Book  has  been  translated  into  many  of  the  languages  of  Eastern 
Europe,  India,  the  Far  East,  Australia,  the  Pacific  Islands,  Africa,  Mada- 
gascar, and  the  Amerinds  (American  Indians)  North  and  South.  See 
Muss-Arnoldt,  The  Book  of  Common  Prayer  among  the  Nations,  S.  P.  C.  K., 
1910. 


4o6  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  y  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


ing  love.  Jerusalem,  Syria,  Gaul,  Rome,  Milan,  Celt, 
Saxon,  Norman,  have  each  brought  their  gifts.  Martyrs, 
Confessors,  Saints,  holy  men  and  women  through  nigh  two 
thousand  years  have  all  had  part  in  making  the  Book  what 
it  is  today.  It  has  had  many  revisers,  Basil,  Chrysostom, 
Leo,  Gelasius,  Gregory,  Osmund,  Cranmer,  Cosin,  and 
many  another  whose  name  has  not  come  down  to  us,  but 
whose  impress  has  been  left  on  the  thought  and  language 
of  its  devotion. 

Of  Cranmer's  part  in  the  great  work  one  can  scarcely 
speak  too  highly.  His  difficulties  were  enormous,  for  un- 
like former  revisions,  this  of  the  English  Book  was  wrought 
out  in  the  midst  of  enemies  of  many  kinds,  political,  social, 
and  ecclesiastical;  fanatical  adherents  of  Rome  on  one 
side,  and  equally  fanatical  Protestants  on  the  other.  Never- 
theless, by  the  mercy  and  goodness  of  God  the  result  was 
one  for  which  to  be  most  thankful.  And  to  Archbishop 
Cranmer,  with  his  mixture  of  great  qualities  and  infirmi- 
ties, more  than  to  any  other  man,  just  as  in  earlier  days 
in  other  national  Churches,  to  Basil,  and  Chrysostom, 
and  Gregory,  the  English-speaking  world  owes,  under  God, 
the  rich  heritage  of  its  purified  Offices  of  Prayer  and  Sacra- 
ment. A  stronger  man  would  have  fallen  before  the  dom- 
ineering power  of  Henry,  as  Wolsey,  Cromwell,  and  More 
fell.  A  weaker,  less  learned,  and  less  conscientious  man 
would  have  failed  as  Wicliffe  failed. 

To  quote  the  well  balanced  language  of  Canon  Mason: 
—  "Cranmer's  large  mind  and  temper,  while  essentially 
conservative,  was  capable  of  taking  in  the  new,  and  of 
going  great  lengths  with  it,  and  yet  of  coordinating  it  with 
the  old,  instead  of  substituting  the  one  for  the  other.  In 
this  way  he  was  able  to  preserve,  by  means  of  the  Prayer 
Book,  the  Ordinal,  and  the  Articles,  a  truly  Catholic  foot- 


CONCLUSION 


407 


ing  for  the  Church  of  England.  If,  instead  of  an  ever 
narrowing  sect  of  adherents  to  the  Papacy,  confronted  by  a 
Protestantism  which  drifts  further  and  further  away  from 
the  faith  of  the  ancient  Fathers,  our  country  possesses  a 
Church  of  unbroken  lineage,  true  to  the  age-long  inheritance 
in  its  framework  of  government,  doctrine,  and  worship, 
yet  open  to  every  form  of  progress,  and  comprehensive 
enough  to  embrace  every  human  being  who  confesses  Christ, 
the  thanks  are  due,  under  God,  to  the  sagacity,  the  courage, 
the  suppleness  combined  with  firmness,  of  Archbishop 
Cranmer.  The  unparalleled  splendour  of  his  dying  actions 
secured  for  ever  to  the  Church  of  England  what  his  life 
had  gained."  1 

It  may  be  well  to  sum  up  here  in  conclusion  the  many 
benefits  we  have  seen  in  this  latest  revision  of  those  Offices 
of  Catholic  worship  which  are  the  inheritance  of  a  race 
whose  numbers  and  extent  of  dominion  already  exceed 
that  of  every  other  in  the  history  of  the  world.2  Besides 
the  restoration  of  primitive  usage  in  regard  to  "a  tongue 
understanded  of  the  people,"  many  manifest  abuses  in  doc- 
trine and  practice  were  corrected.  Ceremonies  had  abounded 
beyond  measure.3    The  rubrics  for  the  general  govern- 


1  Thomas  Cranmer,  p.  202.  Something  may  be  gathered  concerning  the 
vast  extent  of  Cranmer's  theological  and  liturgical  learning  from  the  par- 
tial list  of  MSS.  and  printed  books  of  his  private  library,  now  in  the 
British  Museum  and  elsewhere.  See  Burbidge,  Liturgies  and  Offices  of 
the  Church,  pp.  xvii-xxxvi. 

*  Green  the  historian  may  not  be  over  bold  when  he  ventures  the  pre- 
diction that  "  English  institutions  [he  is  speaking  of  North  America  as  well] 
English  speech,  English  thoughts  will  become  the  main  features  of  the 
political,  the  social,  the  intellectual  life  of  mankind." 

3  The  first  rubric  in  the  Office  for  the  Consecration  of  a  Bishop  in  the 
Sarum  Use  provided  for  no  less  than  thirty-five  separate  articles  necessary 
for  the  function! 


4o8  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


ment  of  the  services,  which  were  contained  in  the  Ordinale 
or  Pie,  had  become  so  multiplied  that  the  Revisers  say  of  it: 
—  "The  number  and  hardness  of  the  Rules  called  the  Pie, 
and  the  manifold  changings  of  the  Service,  was  a  cause, 
that  to  turn  the  Book  only  was  so  hard  and  intricate  a 
matter,  that  many  times  there  was  more  business  to  find 
out  what  should  be  read,  than  to  read  it  when  it  was  found 
out."  1 

Serious  errors  in  doctrine  also  had  crept  into  the  mediaeval 
Offices,  especially  in  regard  to  the  central  act  of  worship. 
The  true  sacrificial  aspect  of  the  Holy  Eucharist  had 
become  so  distorted  and  exaggerated  as  to  drive  completely 
into  the  background  its  other  equally  important  aspect 
as  a  Communion.  For  not  only  was  the  cup  denied  to  the 
people  contrary  to  our  Lord's  specific  and  prophetic  com- 
mand that  "all"  should  drink  of  it,  but  actual  reception 
of  this  Divine  Food  of  the  soul  was  restricted  in  the  prac- 
tice of  the  people  to  a  single  Communion  in  the  year.  Auric- 
ular confession  to  a  Priest  as  an  obligatory  condition  of 
Communion;  the  " Romish" (Romanensium)  doctrine  of  a 
Purgatory  of  quasi  material  torment  after  death,  and  the 
related  offering  of  the  Holy  Eucharist  and  prayers  for  the 
abbreviation  of  this  suffering,  which  was  a  gross  perversion 
of  the  undoubted  primitive  custom  of  Eucharistic  prayers  for 
the  rest,  and  peace,  and  complete  sanctification  of  the  faith- 
ful departed;  and  prayers  addressed  directly  or  indirectly  to 
the  Blessed  Virgin  and  other  great  saints,  were  all  corruptions 
swept  away  in  the  new  revision. 

One  other  glory  of  the  revised  Prayer  Book  is  the  return 
to  primitive  usage  in  the  large  place  it  gives  to  the  reading 
of  Holy  Scripture.  In  the  mediaeval  Church  the  Lessons 
from  the  Bible  were  reduced  to  very  small  proportions, 

1  Preface  to  the  English  Book,  Concerning  the  Service  of  the  Church. 


CONCLUSION  409 

and  in  many  cases,  as  stated  in  the  Preface  "Concerning 
the  Service  of  the  Church"  in  the  English  Book,  their  place 
was  taken  by  "uncertain  stories  and  legends";  while  of  the 
Psalms,  which  were  from  the  beginning  the  very  core  of 
the  Daily  Offices  of  worship,  "a  few  of  them  were  daily  said, 
and  the  rest  utterly  omitted."  On  the  other  hand  an  exami- 
nation of  the  revised  Book  will  show  that  three  fifths  of  it 
is  taken  directly  from  Holy  Scripture;  one  fifth  consists 
of  prayers,  creeds,  and  canticles  more  than  800  years  old, 
some  reaching  even  to  Apostolic  times;  and  only  one  fifth 
consists  of  prayers  and  exhortations  newly  composed  by 
the  revisers. 

Dr.  Dollinger,  the  learned  German  Old-Catholic  professor 
and  historian,  has  said  concerning  this  prominence  given 
to  Holy  Scripture  in  modern  England,  due  largely  to  the 
Prayer  Book:  —  "I  believe  we  may  credit  one  great  superior- 
ity in  England  over  other  countries  to  the  circumstance 
that  there  the  Holy  Scripture  is  found  in  every  house,  as  is 
the  case  nowhere  else  in  the  world."  Puritans,  in  spite  of 
all  their  defects  in  other  ways,  deserve  credit  along  with 
Churchmen  of  that  day  for  their  zeal  for  "an  open  Bible." 
Strange  to  say,  however,  they  attached  such  exaggerated 
importance  to  what  they  called  "the  preaching  of  the 
Word,"  that  is,  their  own  novel  and  strained  interpretation 
of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  that  the  reading  of  the  Bible  in  their 
services  was  reduced  to   almost  mediaeval  proportions.1 

But  it  is  not  only  the  contents,  and  the  character,  and  the 
venerable  associations  of  the  Prayer  Book  that  make  it 

1  See  Hooker,  Ecc.  Pol.,  V.  xxi.  On  the  other  hand,  in  a  single  service 
of  Morning  Prayer,  with  Holy  Communion,  in  part  or  whole,  at  least  four 
times  as  much  of  God's  Word  is  read  or  sung  (Psalms,  Canticles,  Old  and 
New  Testament  Lessons,  Epistle  and  Gospel)  as  is  read  in  an  ordinary 
seivice  among  our  separated  brethren  even  today. 


4io  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  Is?  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 


worthy  of  our  love  and  admiration.  Cranmer,  to  whom 
we  are  perhaps  chiefly  indebted  for  this  beauty  of  diction 
in  both  Bible  and  Prayer  Book  (for  the  "Great  Bible"  of 
1539  was  largely  his  work),  was  one  of  a  number  of  great 
scholars  in  an  age  of  revived  and  great  scholarship.  But  great 
scholars  are  not  always  masters  of  prose  as  Cranmer  was. 
Criticism  and  literary  art  are  rarely  wedded  to  each  other. 
Liddon,  himself  a  master  of  style,  has  said:  —  "For  the 
English  language  the  sixteenth  century  was  the  period  of 
consummate  excellence.  .  .  .  The  English  writers  of  the 
sixteenth  century  —  and  Archbishop  Cranmer  in  particular 
—  had  an  ear  for  English  which  has  not  been  given  even  to 
the  most  gifted  of  their  successors;  and  their  work  is  unap- 
proached  in  its  simple  and  forcible  vocabulary,  and  still 
more  in  the  ordered  beauty  of  its  rhythm."  1 

Moreover  both  the  Prayer  Book  and  the  Bible  are  trans- 
lations from  another  tongue;  the  latter  wholly,  the  former 
almost  wholly.  And  good  translation  is  no  easy  matter. 
Success  in  avoiding  stifFness  is  rare,  and  smooth  and  melo- 
dious English  is  rarer  still.2    Yet  the  translators  of  both 

1  Preface  to  Reflections  on  the  Psalms.  Nevertheless,  in  a  deeply  inter- 
esting  letter  to  King  Henry  in  1543,  Cranmer  confesses  his  inability  to 
write  verse.  After  telling  of  his  "travail"  to  translate  the  ancient  office 
hymn,  Salve  festa  diesy  into  English  verse,  he  writes,  "  But  because  mine 
English  verses  lack  the  grace  and  felicity  that  I  would  wish  they  had,  your 
Majesty  may  cause  some  other  to  make  them  again,  that  can  do  the  same 
in  more  pleasant  English  and  phrase."  It  seems  probable  that  the  longer 
version  of  the  Feni  Creator  Spiritus  in  the  Ordinal  is  by  Cranmer.  If  so 
he  showed  his  excellent  judgment  in  writing  as  he  did  above.  See  Tbomss 
Cranmer  by  Canon  Mason,  pp.  141,  142,  and  Julian's  Die.  of  Hymnology, 
p.  1209. 

1  Macaulay's  description  of  translation  in  general  was  "champagne  in 
decanter."  Coleridge's  translation  of  Schiller's  Piccolo-mini  and  fFallenstn* 
is  probably  the  only  example  in  English  secular  literature  of  which  it  has 
been  said  that  the  translation  is  superior  to  the  original. 


CONCLUSION  411 

Prayer  Book  and  Bible  were  successful,  and  both  books 
have  become  English  classics,  in  fact  the  greatest  of  them 
all.  Lord  Macaulay  has  said  of  the  Prayer  Book,  "The 
essential  qualities  of  devotion  and  eloquence,  conciseness, 
majestic  simplicity,  pathetic  earnestness  of  supplication, 
sobered  by  a  profound  reverence,  are  common  between 
the  translations  and  the  originals.  But  in  the  subordinate 
graces  of  diction  the  originals  must  be  allowed  to  be  far 
inferior  to  the  translations."  And  he  adds,  "The  diction 
of  our  Book  of  Common  Prayer  has  directly  or  indirectly 
contributed  to  form  the  diction  of  almost  every  great 
English  writer."  1  What  has  been  often  written  concern- 
ing the  uncommon  beauty  and  matchless  English  of  our 
translation  of  the  Bible  is  equally  applicable  to  the  Prayer 
Book.  "  It  lives  on  the  ear  like  a  music  that  can  never  be 
forgotten.  Its  felicities  often  seem  to  be  almost  things 
rather  than  mere  words.  It  is  part  of  the  national  mind, 
and  the  anchor  of  the  national  seriousness.  The  memory 
of  the  dead  passes  into  it.  The  potent  traditions  of  child- 
hood are  stereotyped  in  its  verses.  The  power  of  all  the 
gifts  and  trials  of  a  man  is  hidden  beneath  its  words."  2 
This  is  the  judgment,  not  of  an  Anglican,  but  of  a  member 
of  the  Roman  Communion. 

That  the  Book  is  still  capable  of  improvement,  and,  as 
in  former  revisions,  requiring  from  time  to  time  adaptation 
to  the  growing  needs  of  a  new  age  and  new  conditions,  is 
unquestionable.  If  it  were  not  so  it  would  be  on  a  level 
with  "The  Everlasting  Gospel"  itself,  as  contained  in  the 
writings  of  the  New  Testament.  The  fact  remains,  never- 
theless, that  it  is  a  marvelous  work  as  revised  in  the  six- 
teenth and  seventeenth  centuries  by  the  skill  and  wisdom  of 

1  Hist,  of  England^  III,  p.  475. 

2  The  Dublin  Review,  qu.  by  Neale  in  Essays  on  Liturgiology,  p.  221. 


4i2  PRIMITIVE  WORSHIP  fef  THE  PRAYER  BOOK 

many  devoted  men,  through  nearly  150  years  of  varied  con- 
flict, and  as  remarkable  for  what  it  has  persistently  retained 
of  Catholic  doctrine  and  practice,  as  for  what  it  has  left  out 
of  mediaeval  accretions  and  perversions.  An  eminent  Ameri- 
can layman  has  written  concerning  it:  —  "The  Book  of 
Common  Prayer  has  been  the  study  of  the  most  acute  and 
vigorous  minds,  not  only  of  ecclesiastics,  but  of  lawyers, 
statesmen,  and  scholars.  A  body  of  literature  has  been 
created  as  to  its  sources,  meaning,  and  purposes  which  for 
learning,  reasoning,  and  style  is  unsurpassed.  Those  who 
know  it  best  love  it  best,  and  the  very  earnestness  of  their 
discussions  as  to  its  origin  and  meaning  attests  their  devo- 
tion to  it.  It  has  profoundly  influenced  not  only  the  moral, 
but  also  the  intellectual  and  political,  life  of  England,  and  of 
the  world.  ...  Its  history  is  a  part  of  the  warp  and  woof 
of  the  history  of  the  English  people  and  nation  which  no 
one  can  fully  understand  who  does  not  know  its  story."  1 

1  J.  H.  Benton,  LL.D.,  President  of  the  Boston  Library,  in  The  Book  of 
Common  Prayer,  Its  Origin  and  Growth,  pp.  v.  vi. 


INDEX 


Aaron,  71,  374 
Aberdeen,  122 
Ablutions,  197 
Abraham,  178 

Absolution,  113,  167-171,  206,  342 
Abyssinia,  69,  207 
Accession  Service,  361 
Acts  of  Apostles,  24,  366,  367 
Administration  of  Holy  Commun- 
ion, 60,  112,  114,  195 
Adultery,  319-332 
"Advertisements,"  Royal,  273 
Aelfred,  King,  93 
Aelfric,  Archbp.,  297 
A 'gape ,  32,  47,  191 
Agnus  Dei,  113,  196 
Agricola,  71 
"Air,"  63 
Alb,  405 
Alban,  S.,  71 
Albania,  75 
Albany,  Bp.  of,  266 
Alcuin,  84 

Alexander,  Archbp.  of  Alexandria, 
252,  253 

Alexander,  Primate,  210-213,  215, 
218,  222,  229,  237,  242,  249,  256 
Alexandria,  57,  66,  157,  252,  381 
All  Saints,  269 
Alps,  248 

Altar,  40,  41,  44,  45,  54,  56,  112, 

138,  I39>  159,  275,  400 
Ambrose,  66,  78,  98,  137,  221,  231, 

234,  237 
Amens,  140 

American  Prayer  Book,  104,  112, 
118,  120-134,  H1,  150*  x56>  169, 
174,  177,  196,  205,  206,  208,  221, 
233,  236,  243,  244,  251,  258,  267, 


269,  270,  276,  279,  284,  285,  293, 

301,  317,  326,  334,  338,  345,  346, 

353,  357-36i,  400,  401 
American  Presbyterians,  7 
Amerinds,  406 
Anabaptist,  289,  293 
Anamnesis,  178,  179 
Anaphora,  59,  62,  67,  140,  172-184 
Anaximines,  239 
Andrewes,  Bp.,  128,  164,  399 
Angel,  or  Apostle,  369,  378 
Angles,  74,  82 
Anglican  Chant,  232 
Anointing,  307,  312,  343~345 
Antioch,  58,  59,  62,  98,  157,  230,  372 
Antiphon,  67,  100,  164,  218,  219, 

263,  343,  350 
Antoninus  Pius,  48 
Apocrypha,  116,  238 
"Apostle"  for  Epistle,  155 
Apostles'  Creed,  245,  250,  392 
Apostolic  Constitutions,  54,  59,  61, 

156,  263 
Apostolicae  Curae,  395 
Apostolic  Succession,  367,  379 
Appeal,  Final  Court  of,  273 
Apulia,  73 
Aquileia,  67,  25 1 
Arabic,  80 

Arius,  157,  252,  253,  263 
Aries,  71,  256 
Armagh,  76 

Armenian  Lit.,  21,  141,  155 
Armorica,  79 
Arndt,  Joh.,  208 

Articles  of  Religion,  185,  186,  189, 
191,  246,  272,  276,  303,  304,  372, 
387,  398,  400 

Ash  Wednesday,  269,  357 


4H 


INDEX 


Asterisk,  64 

Athanasius,  59,  253 

Athanasius,  Creed  of,  174,  245,  256- 

260,  401 
Athos,  Mt.,  61 
"Audible  Voice,"  143 
Augsburg,  Confession  of,  246 
Augustine  of  Canterbury,  74,  79,  82, 

83,  88,  264 
Augustine  of  Hippo,  33,  182,  208, 
212,  221,  230-232,  237,  239,  240, 

261,  287,  296,  303,  348,  393 
Auricular  Confession,  168,  206 
Australia,  314 
"Authentic  Modes,"  233 
"Authorized  Version,"  117,  216,  217 
Auxerre,  79 

Bancroft,  Archbp.,  379 
Bangor,  86,  101 
Banns,  333 

Baptism,  59,  80,  113,  166,  169,  181, 

281-294,  305,  311 
Baptists,  267,  286,  382 
Baring-Gould,  no,  142,  168,  279 
Bartholomew's  Day,  S.,  118 
Basil,  35,  58,  98,  263,  269,  407 
Basilica,  40 

Baxter,  13,  45,  115,  146,  291 
Bede,  71,  73,  74,  83,  93 
Bellarmin,  404 
Bema>  41,  55 

Benedicite,  79,  217,  237,  238 

"Benedictions,  Eighteen,"  173 

Benedictusy  48,  240 

Benedictus  qui  venit,  67,  1 13,  173 

Benton,  J.  H.,  413 

Berlin,  384 

Bernhardi,  384 

Benson,  Archbp.,  140,  280,  286,  295, 
352 

Betrothal,  335 

Bible,  93,  95,  102.  See  also  "Great 
Bible" 

Bidding  Prayer,  79,  158 

Bingham,  33,  40,  42,  44,  51-53,  104, 
143,  161,  185,  202,  203,  221,  222, 
254,  279,  287,  312,  342>  349 


Birkbeck,  W.  J.,  255 

Bishop,  363,  368,  369,  404 

"Black  Gown,"  274 

"Black  Rubric,"  199 

Blessing,  The,  197 

Blunt,  J.  H.,  61,  86,  87,  96,  99, 
145,  165,  168,  174,  186,  274,  275, 
285,  288,  298,  334-336,  343,  352, 
358 

"  Body  of  the  Church,"  138,  139,  334 
Bohemia,  73 

Book  of  Common  Prayer,  see  Ameri- 
can, Irish,  etc.,  Prayer  Book 
"  Book  of  Common  Worship,"  7 
Book  of  the  Gospels,  Giving  of,  403, 
405 

Bowing  at  the  sacred  Name,  116, 

157,  158 
"Bow  in  the  Cloud,"  179 
Bracaria,  Council  of,  254 
Bramhall,  Archbp.,  169 
"Breaking  of  Bread,"  31-39 
Breviary,  87,  88,  96,  99.     See  also 

Portuary 

Bright,  Canon,  82,  85,  114,  146,  150- 

152,  160,  180,  271,  288 
Brightman,  58 
British  Church,  69,  70-81 
Brittany,  78 

Brooks,  Bp.  Phillips,  250 
Brownell,  Bp.,  viii,  170 
Bryennios  Philotheos,  51 
Bucer,  no,  282,  283,  327 
Bulgaria,  59 
Burbidge,  279,  408 
Burial,  349-355 
Burke,  Edmund,  127 
Bury,  Prof.,  75 
Butler,  Bp.,  213 
"  Buxum,"  336 
Byzantine,  57,  58 

Caerleon,  71 
Caesarea,  58,  98,  252 
Calabria,  73 
Calpurnius,  75 

Calvin,  10,  no,  114,  189,  288,  378, 

382,  388 


INDEX 


415 


Cambridge,  89,  283 
Canada,  132,  228,  230,  314 
Cancelli,  42 
Canonical  Hours,  203 
Canon  of  Holy  Communion,  140, 
172-184 

Canons,  English,  273,  283,  316,  333, 

372 
Cantate,  243 

Canterbury,  79,  83,  84,  86,  88,  89, 

91,  95,  264,  333,  334,  352 
Cantus  Directus,  219 
Capernaum,  35,  38 
Capitals,  Use  of,  141 
Capitula,  205 
Carthage,  77,  237,  404 
Catacombs,  40,  192 
Catechetical  School,  59,  296 
Catechism,  295-302 
Catechizing,  301 
"Catholic  Remainder,"  6,  122 
Caxton,  101 
"Celebration,"  140 
Celtic,  72,  76,  84,  99,  380 
Chalcedon,  59 
Chalice,  54,  160,  275,  390 
Chamouni,  239 
Chancel,  138 

Charlemagne,  84,   157,   254,  309, 
324 

Charles  I,  121,  361 

Charles  II,  115,  121,  122,  271,  362 

Chasuble,  403,  404,  405 

Chaucer,  334,  338 

Cheyne,  Prof.,  44 

Chickely,  89 

Chimere,  274 

Choir  Offices,  235 

"Christian  Science,"  345 

Christian  Year,  7 

Chrysostom,  35,  57,  58,  59,  62,  98, 

128,  263,  269,  311 
"Church"  and  "Kingdom,"  364 
Church,  Dean,  55,  61,  145,  220,  222 
Church  Law,  276 
Church  Orders,  42 
Church  Buildings,  40-42,  54,  55,  56 
Church  Wardens,  139,  400 


Churching  of  Women,  356 
Claggett,  Bp.,  275 
Clarendon,  Council  of,  91 
Clarke,  Sir  Edw.,  214,  216 
Clemens  of  Alexandria,  296 
Clement  I  of  Rome,  49,  50,  62,  372, 
373 

Clement  VII  of  Rome,  99,  205 
Clementine  Liturgy,  62,  165 
Clovesho,  Council  of,  84 
Clyde,  70,  75,  76 
Coleridge,  179,  187,  239,  411 
Colet,  Dean,  89 
Collects,  145-153,  262 
Colman,  Bp.,  76 
Cologne,  99,  101,  205,  352 
Columba,  75,  120,  150,  381 
Columbanus,  75,  76 
Commandments,  140-142 
Commination,  357 
Compline,  203,  204 
Commune  and  Communicate,  195, 
347 

Communion,  Holy,  35,  59,  104,  135, 

140,  191-199 
Communion  in  both  kinds,  104 
Confession,  167,  168,  194,  206,  342 
Confirmation,  59,  166,  181,  294,  303- 

317 

Congregationalists,  10,  11,  267,  382 
Confiteor,  167,  169,  206 
"Comfortable  Words,"  171,  301 
Consecration,  Prayer  of,  105,  112, 

129-132,  175-184 
Consecration  of  Church,  390,  399 
Consecration  of  Churchyard,  400 
Constantine,  54,  55,  252,  323 
Constantinople,  78,  157,  254,  263, 

323 

Consubstantiation,  185 
Consumption  of  Elements,  197 
Convocation,  88,  94,  95,  98,  99,  101, 
102,  109,  115,  117,  134,  193,  198, 
246,  274,  293,  299,  311,  361,  372, 

399,  401 
Cope,  404 

Corporal  or  Corporas,  275 
Cornwall,  75,  79,  82 


416 


INDEX 


Cosin,  Bp.,  128,  163,  269,  270,  313 

Councils,  English,  Parents  of  Parlia- 
ment, 324 

Councils,  General,  254 

"Covenant,  Solemn,"  115 

Coxe,  Bp.,  23,  120,  128,  163,  275, 
34i»  349 

Cranmer,  95,  96,  107,  146,  149,  207, 
216,  246,  269,  274,  407,  411 

Credence,  162,  275 

Creed,  156,  245-260 

Cremation,  350 

Crisome,  282 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  115 

Cromwell,  Thomas,  407 

Cross,  Sign  of,  113,  282,  284,  312, 
315 

Cup,  see  Chalice 
Curate,  301 

Cyprian,  21,  33,  54,  237,  307 
Cyril  of  Alexandria,  34,  36 
Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  55,  59,  61,  194, 
296 

"  Daily  Bread,"  195,  196 

Dalmatic,  403,  405 

Darwin,  230 

Davison,  W.  T.,  215 

Deacons,  55,  363,  370,  402 

Dead,  Prayers  for,  see  Departed 

Dearmer,  Percy,  156,  165 

Decalogue,  see  Commandments 

De  Koven,  Dr.  J.,  129,  317 

De  Long,  Lieut.,  249 

Denison,  Archdeacon,  no 

Deosculatorium>  165 

Departed,  Faithful,  65-67,  163,  354 

Deprecations,  266 

Didache,  51 

Didascalia,  54 

Dies  Irae,  352 

Diocesan,  see  Episcopacy 

Diocletian,  52,  71 

"Directory,"  Presbyterian,  115 

Dirge,  350,  352 

"  Disc,"  64 

"Discerning  of  Spirits,"  171 
Disciplina  Arcani,  53 


Dissenting  Worship,  182 

"Dissidence  of  Dissent,"  267 

"  Divine  Service,"  5 

Divorce,  318-332 

Dix,  Dr.  Morgan,  in 

Dixon,  Canon,  no 

Doane,  Bp.  W.  C,  331 

Dollinger,  11,  320,  410 

Dorchester,  Mass.,  10 

Doxology,  21,  196 

Dublin,  359 

Dublin  Review,  412 

Duchesne,  42,  45,  47,  50,  51,  53,  55, 
59>  73,  77>  78,  83,  84,  112,  137, 
141,  143,  147,  155,  157,  164,  176, 
221,  278 

Dumbarton,  75 

Dunstan,  Archbp.,  404 

Dupanloup,  Bp.,  230,  297 

Durham,  279 

Dykes,  J.  B.,  233 

Eadgar,  85 

Eanham,  324 

Eastern  Church,  59,  323 

"Eastward  Position,"  181 

EcUne,  263 

Edersheim,  Dr.,  16,  19,  38,  160 

Edinburgh,  121 

Edward  the  Confessor,  85 

Egbert,  Archbp.,  297,  404 

Egbert,  King,  84 

Egyptian  Lit.,  57 

Eleutherus,  73 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  113,  187,  361 
Elizabeth,  Saint,  242 
Ely,  96,  279 
Ember  Days,  270 
Emmaus,  32 

Endowments,  Church,  159 

Engagement,  335 

Engla-land,  85 

English  Church,  88,  91 

English  Titles  to  Psalms,  223-229 

Ephesian  Lit.,  57,  66,  78,  80 

Epiclesisy  see  Invocation 

Episcopacy,  370,  379 

Epistle  and  Gospel,  67,  141,  145,  154 


INDEX 


4i7 


Espousals,  335 
Ethelred,  King,  324 
Etheria,  55,  137 
Ethiopia,  69 
Eton,  89 

Eucharist,  34,  47,  49,  51,  66,  172, 

375.  393.  398,  400,  409 
Eulogidy  36 
Euphrates,  58 
Eusebius,  42,  50,  55 
Evensong,  200-207,  24* 
Excommunication,  138 
Exeter,  405 

Exhortations,  164,  165,  205,  206 
Extempore  Prayer,  4,  9,  46 

Faith  Healing,  345 
Faldstool,  266 
Family  Prayers,  360 
"Fan,"  64 
Farce,  219 
Faroe,  76 

Fasting  Communion,  191-194 

Ffoulkes,  E.  S.,  176 

Filioque,  157,  254,  255 

First  Pr.  Book  of  Edward  VI,  98- 

108,  179,  205 
Florence,  Council  of,  104 
Font,  275 
Forbes,  Bp.,  304 

Forms  of  Prayer,  8,  9,  10,  26-30 
Fornication,  320 
France,  264 
Francis  of  Assisi,  92 
Frankfort,  114 
Fredericton,  194 

Freeman,  Archdeacon,  21,  25,  78,  80, 
83,  87,  99,  137,  151,  189,  196,  201- 
205,  208,  218,  219,  238,  252 

Frere,  46,  61,  86.  See  also  P.  and  F. 

Fridolin,  75 

Froude,  no,  in,  127 

Fulton,  J.,  327,  335 

Gaelic,  71 

Gall,  Saint,  75,  352 

Gallican  Lit.,  66,  77,  78,  82,  83,  162, 

252,  285 
Gallienus,  41 


Garrick,  143 

Gasquet  and  Bishop,  in 

Gaul,  77,  78 

Geddis,  Jennie,  122 

Gelasius,  82,  98,  151,  174,  185,  269, 

284,  343.  358,  398,  404 
Genealogy  of  English  Lit.,  133 
General  Convention,  American,  112, 

123,  125,  129,  175,  277,  326,  400 
General  Councils,  254 
"General  Thanksgiving,"  141 
Geneva,  114,  378 
Georgia,  73 
Germanus,  79 
Germany,  383,  388 
Gibbon,  378 
Gibson,  Bp.,  92,  360 
Gildas,  80 

Gladstone,  4,  209,  318,  321,  386 
Gloria  in  Excelsis,  48,  113,  196 
Gloria  Patriy  221,  240,  269 
Gloria  Tibi,  156 
Gloves,  405 
Goldsmith,  Oliver,  275 
Good  Friday,  Eucharist  on,  145 
Goodrich,  Bp.,  96 

Gore,  Bp.,  177,  183,  184,  198,  214, 

238,  374,  375,  377,  381,  387 
Goulburn,  Dean,  151 
Gradual,  100,  101,  221 
Grave,  Benediction  of,  355 
"Great  Bible,"  102,  117,  301,  411 
"Great  Entrance,"  67,  162 
"Great  Intercession,"  162 
Greek  Lit.,  57-59,  74,  77 
Green,  J.  R.,  85,  408 
Gregorian  Tones,  see  Plain  Song 
Gregory,  Dean,  145 
Gregory  Nazianzen,  234 
Gregory  the  Great,  74, 82, 89, 98, 152, 

232,  264,  265,  269,  284,  398,  404 
Gregory  VII,  90,  99 
Grove,  Sir  George,  233 
Gutenberg,  101 

Hadden,  A.  W.,  74,  372 
Hallel,  37,  48,  228 

Hampton  Court  Conference,  115,  299 


418 


INDEX 


Hardwick,  107 
Hare,  Archdeacon,  283 
Harmony,  230 
Harnack,  374,  375 

Hart,  Samuel,  119,  270,  336,  359, 
399,  400 

Harvest,  see  Thanksgiving  Day 

Harvey,  256 

Hatch,  E.,  183 

Heber,  Bp.,  234 

Hebrew  Poetry,  215,  216 

Hegesippus,  377 

Helmore,  233 

Henry  VIII,  87,  96,  97,  411 
Herbert,  G.,  279 
Hereford,  86,  101,  337 
Hermann,  Archbp.,  99,   101,  205, 

267,  284 
Hermas,  322 
Higham  Ferrers,  89 
Hilary  of  Aries,  256 
Hilary  of  Poictiers,  35,  79,  234 
Hildebrand,  see  Gregory  VII 
Hippolytus,  34 
Holland,  383,  384 
Holland,  Canon,  190 
Holy  Synod,  255 
Homoiousion,  Homoousion,  253 
Homophony,  231 

Hooker,  21,  33,  82,  185,  186,  188, 
189,  222,  243,  253,  264,  287,  337, 
339,  342,  378,  410 

Hopkins,  Prof.,  7 

Hore,  91 

"Hours  of  Prayer,"  201-204 

How,  Bp.  W.  W.,  154 

Humble  Access,  Prayer  of,  67,  112, 

I75>  177 
Huns,  150 
Hunter,  397, 

Huntington,  W.  R.,  3,  12,  146,  200 
Hutton,  R.  H.,  245,  249 
"Hymn"  in  Passover,  48 
Hymns,  48,  207,  233,  334 

Iceland,  76 

Ignatius,  40,  221,  222,  230,  372, 
374,  375 


Immersion  in  Baptism,  285 
Impediments  to  Marriage,  334 
Imprecatory  Psalms,  213-215 
Incense,  277-279 
Independents,  382 
India,  70 
"Induction,"  400 
Ingram,  Bp.,  163 
"Injunctions,"  266,  273 
Innocent  III,  256 

Institution  of  Ministers,  390,  399, 
400 

"Intinction,"  161 

Introit,  100,  113 

Invitation  to  Communion,  165 

Invitatory  Psalm,  208 

Invocation  of  Saints,  148,  266 

Invocation  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  60, 

65,  104,  in,  123,  176,  177 
Iona,  75,  84,  120,  381 
Iota,  25,  31 
Ipswich,  94 

Irenaeus,  40,  77,  78,  376,  378 

Irish  Church  or  Prayer  Book,  70-81, 
85,  103,  117,  120-134,  169,  258, 
266,  301,  326,  339,  346,  353,  357- 
361,  380,  390,  400 

Italics,  Use  of,  140 

Italic  Version,  217 

Italy,  73 

James  I.,  121 

James,  Lit.  of  Saint,  57-66 
Jamestown,  119,  277 
Jerome,  79,  217,  374,  381 
Jerusalem,  58,  59,  62,  69,  98,  252, 
380 

John,  King,  91 

John,  Saint,  57,  66,  78,  187,  188, 
376 

Johnson,  John,  141,  297 
Joseph,  Saint,  15 
Jubilate,  240 
Judea,  58 

"Judicial  Committee,"  273 
Julian,  J.,  411 
Julius,  71 

Justinian,  143,  323,  327 


INDEX 


419 


Justin  Martyr,  45,  47,  48,  51,  53 
Juxon,  Bp.,  121 

Keble,  33,  137,  167,  186,  191,  257, 
281,  295,  303,  356,  363,  379 

Kellner,  Prof.,  137 

Kells,  76 

Ken,  Bp.,  234 

Kentigern,  150 

King,  Bp.,  140,  145,  160,  280 

" Kingdom"  and  "Church,"  364,  366 

Kingdon,  Bp.,  194 

Kingsley,  Charles,  148 

"Kiss  of  Peace"  or  "Charity,"  60, 
67,  165 

Kneeling  at  Holy  Communion,  113 

Knox,  Alex.,  145 

Knox,  John,  146,  382,  388 

Korah,  183 

Kyrie,  142,  264 

Lambeth  Church,  286 

Lambeth  Conference,  345,  392 

Lambeth  Judgment,  140 

"Lamb  of  God,"  178,  202 

Langton,  Archbp.,  91 

Late  Comers  to  Church,  207 

Lateran  Council,  73 

Latin  Liturgy,  58,  71,  72 

Laud,  Archbp.,  121,  128,  139,  270 

Lauds,  203,  240 

"Laying  on  of  Hands,"  181,  305, 
315 

Lecky,  W.  E.  H.,  327 
Lectionary,  119,  236 
Lections  or  Lessons,  141,  155,  235, 
236 

Lee,  Archbp.,  95 
Legend 'a ,  100 
Leighton,  Archbp.,  182 
Lent,  264,  333,  357 
Leo  the  Great,  98,  15 1,  269,  398 
Leo  XIII,  395 
L'Estrange,  176,  287 
Lev'ites,  221,  374 
Lex  orandi,  viii,  11 
Liddon,  145,  169,  177,  184,  216,  222, 
229,  242,  250,  296,  411 


Lightfoot,  Bp.,  374,  375,  377 
Lincoln,  86,  101,  139,  140,  160,  192, 

280,  359 
Lingard,  84 

Litany,  87,  96,  142,  261-269,  28 1> 
405 

"Little  Chapter,"  235 

Littledale,  58,  59,  72,  177,  208,  220 

"Little  Entrance,"  67,  162 

Liturgic  Worship,  8,  9,  26-30 

Liturgies,  51,  52,  57 

Liturgy,  32,  136 

Lloyd,  Julius,  6,  121 

London,  71,  86,  360 

Longland,  Bp.,  94 

Lord's  Prayer,  20,  140 

Lord's  Supper,  32,  47,  136 

"  Loud  Voice,"  143 

Love  Feast,  see  Agape 

Lowell,  J.  R.,  98 

Lowndes,  80,  391,  396-398 

Lucius,  King,  73 

Luckock,  Dean,  3,  73,  99,  116,  182, 

214,  319,  323-325 
Lumby,  J.  R.,  256 
Lupus,  Bp.,  79 

Luther,  114,  185,  325,  327,  382,  388 

Lutheran  Usages,  137,  162,  246,  314 

Lutterworth,  93 

Lyons,  77,  78 

Lyra  Apostolica,  109 

Lyra  Innocentium,  146 

Macaulay,  150,  411,  412 

Macedonius,  157,  254 

Maclean,  Bp.,  2,  54,  61,  142,  177, 

181,  202,  207,  263,  393,  395 
Maclear,  G.  F.,  114,  269 
Magna  Cbarta,  91 
Magnificat,  48,  217,  241-243 
Malabar,  57,  66,  69,  202 
Malcolm,  King,  85 
Mamercus,  Bp.,  265 
Maniple,  405 
Manning,  Archdeacon,  92 
Manual,  85,  101,  281 
Marbeck,  233 
Margaret,  Queen,  85,  150 


420 


INDEX 


Margaret,  Church  of  Saint,  no,  115 

Mark,  Lit.  of  Saint,  57,  66 

Marriage,  318-340 

Married  Clergy,  90 

Martene,  403,  404 

Martin,  S.,  79,  83 

Martyr,  Justin,  see  Justin 

Martyr,  Peter,  no 

Mary,  Queen,  113,  114 

Mary,  Virgin,  15,  241 

Maskell,  99,  100,  156,  165,  200,  265, 

344>  397>  398,  402,  404 
Mason,  Canon,  66,  148,  407,  411 
Mass,  136,  137,  179,  184 
Mass  "of  the  Presanctified,"  145 
Massachusetts,  6,  10 
Matins,  200-207,  241 
Maundy  Thursday,  145,  193 
Media  Vita,  352 
Melancthon,  327 
Melchizedek,  179,  365 
Mendelssohn,  Moses,  214 
Metropolitan,  404 
Middleton,  Bp.,  320 
Milan,  66,  67,  78,  98,  137,  155,  221, 

231,  233 
"Militant,  Church,"  162,  163 
Milton,  4,  325,  328 
Ministry,  see  Ordinal 
Missa  Catechumenorum,  67 
Missal,  85,  87,  101 
Mitre,  405 
Monasteries,  94,  203 
Monica,  232 
Monsell,  J.  S.  B.,  ix 
Montgomery,  J.,  234 
Moravians,  126,  162 
More,  Sir  Thomas,  407 
Morning  and  Evening  Prayer,  200- 

207 
Moses,  319 

"Mother  of  all  Churches,"  380 
Moulton,  R.  G.,  216 
Mozarabic,  66,  80,  81,  133,  162 
Mozley,  J.  B.,  283,  328 
Musical  Colon,  216 
Music  in  the  Church,  229 
Muss-Arnold t,  406 


Name  of  American  Church,  125- 
129 

Name  of  Jesus,  Bowing  at,  284 

Nave,  55,  138 

Nazareth,  14,  15,  20 

Neale,  J.  M.,  27,  28,  58,  59,  65-67, 

73,  78,  81,  177,  219,  220,  263,  412 
Neander,  41 
New  England,  6 
Newman,  J.  H.,  172,  182,  253 
Nice  or  Nicaea,  71,  80,  157,  252,  386 
Nicene  Creed,  251-256,  392 
Niceta,  237 
Ninian,  150 
Nocturns,  203 
Nones,  203,  204 
Nonjurors,  122,  141 
"N  or  M,"  301,  336 
Norman  Conquest,  85,  298,  325 
"North  Side  of  the  Table,"  139, 

140 

"Notices,"  165 
Notker,  352 

Nunc  Dimittis,  48,  243,  244 
Nuptials,  335,  338 

"Obey,"  336 
Oblation,  65,  67,  140,  143 
Obsecration,  266 
Occasional  Prayers,  270 
Odoacer,  150 
Oesterley,  W.  0.  E.,  44 
Offertory,  67,  159 
Old  Catholics,  255 
"Old  Learning,"  97 
Ommaney,  256 
Orarion,  64 

Ordinal,  62,  170,  363-405 
Ordinale,  see  Pica 
"Ordinary  of  the  Mass,"  140 
Oriental  Lit.,  59 
Origen,  54,  296 

"Ornaments  Rubric,"  103,  114,  272- 

280 

"Orthodox,"  10 
Osmund,  Bp.,  85,  86,  89,  99 
Outlook  (N.  Y.),  331 
Overall,  Bp.,  299 


INDEX 


421 


Oxenham,  II 

Oxford,  89,  92,  94,  234 

Palestrina,  232 
Pall,  76 

Palmer,  Wm.,  58,  59,  62,  86, 104,  174 

P.  and  F.,  see  Procter  and  Frere 

Papacy,  74,  89,  91,  92 

Paradise,  34,  163 

Parent  Liturgies,  56-69 

Parker,  Archbp.,  401 

Parliament,  5,  94,  102,  109,  115,  117, 

119,  120,  126,  270,  298,  299,  324, 

361,  401 
Paschal,  79,  178,  190,  200 
Passover,  36,  37,  160,  161 
Pastoral  Staff,  274,  391,  405 
Paten,  64,  275,  390,  404 
Patriarchine,  67 
Patrick,  S.,  75,  76,  150 
Paul,  Saint,  58,  70,  75,  78 
Paul's  Cathedral,  S.,  86,  89,  96,  no, 

in,  114,  379 
Pax,  67 

Pearson,  Bp.,  370 

Peckham,  Archbp.,  166,  313 

Penitential  Office,  269 

Penitential  Psalms,  Seven,  201 

Pentecost,  38 

Peregrinatio,  55,  137 

Perry,  Bp.,  123,  124 

Perry,  Canon,  6,  95,  97 

Persecution,  67,  71 

Persian  Lit.,  57,  66 

Peter,  S.,  58,  66 

Pica  or  Pie,  100,  409 

Picts,  71,  75 

Pius  IV,  114,  232 

Pius  V,  114,  267 

Placebo,  350 

Plain  Song,  231-233 

Pliny,  33,  47,  48,  230 

Poictiers,  75,  234 

Polycarp,  77,  373,  374,  376 

Polyphony,  231 

Pontifical,  101,  281,  390,  402 

Poore,  Bp.,  86,  89,  99 

Pope,  see  Rome,  Bp.  of 


Portiforium,  Portuisse,  85,  87,  96, 

99,  100,  204.   See  also  Breviary 
Post-Communion,  196 
Potter,  Archbp.,  385 
Pramunire,  91 
"  Prayers,  The,"  23-29 
Prayer  Book  of  1549,  87,  89,  98-108, 

339*  343,  347 
Prayers  for  Dead,  see  Departed 
Prayers  to  Saints,  148 
Prefaces,  158 
Prefaces,  Proper,  173 
Preparation  for  Holy  Communion, 

140-144 
Presbyter,  see  Priest 
Presbyterians,  n,  115,  267,  381 
Presence  in  Holy  Communion,  185- 

190 
Pressense,  43 
Priest,  363,  369,  399,  403 
Priesthood,  180-184 
Prime ,  203,  204 
Pro-Anaphora,  67,  140 
"Processions,"  96,  265,  358 
Procter,  148,  205,  206,  245 
Procter  and  Frere  (P.  and  F.),  21, 

34,  47,  61,  101,  103,  114,  141,  237, 

238,  261,  264,  291 
Prohibited  Degrees  in  Marriage,  334 
"Prophecy,"  67,  141,  155 
"Proposed  Book,"  124,  360 
"Protestant  Episcopal,"  125-129 
Protestants,  Foreign,  40,  120,  127 
Prothero,  R.  E.,  222 
Protbesis,  162 
Province,  380,  386 
Provisory,  91 

Prymers,  87,  101,  142,  265,  269 
Psalter,  43,  44,  48,  100,  117,  208,  234 
Psalter,  Method  of  Using,  219-222 
Psalter,  Music  for,  230-233 
Ptolemy,  70 
Pullan,  L.,  81 
Purgatory,  66,  163,  409 
Puritans,5, 1 14,1 15, 138,222,246,264, 
270,  272,  275,  283,  284,  286,  288, 
291,  298,  328,  337,  350,  378,  383 
Pusey,  137,  142,  169,  194 


422 


INDEX 


Quicunque  vult,  256 
Quignonez,  99,  101,  205 

Ravenna,  Council  of,  167 
Recent  Discoveries,  393 
"Reconciliation,  Ministry  of,"  169 
Reeves,  Bp.,  381 
Reformation  in  England,  90 
Religio  licita  and  illicita,  41,  52,  56 
Remusat,  70 

"  Repulsion  "  from  Holy  Commun- 
ion, 138 

Reserved  Sacrament,  197-199 

Respond,  221 

Reynolds,  Bp.,  269 

"Right  Side  of  Table,"  140 

Ring,  336,  337.  405 

Ritual  Discussion,  277 

Robert,  Bp.,  95 

Rochette,  274 

Rogation  Days,  264,  269 

Roman  Bishops  in  England,  91 

Roman  Church,  76, 91,  221,  256,  267, 
311,  404 

Roman  Liturgy,  58,  66,  78,  80,  82, 

84,  98,  162,  176,  196,  396 
Rome,  Bishop  of,  252,  267,  334 
Rouen,  79,  85,  256 
Roumania,  59,  76 

Rubrics,  79,  80,  100,  273,  301,  403. 

See  also  "Black  Rubric" 
Rule  of  Faith,  248 
Russia,  66,  73 

Sabbath  and  Sunday,  142 
Sacerdotal,  181— 183,  399,  400,  403 
Sacramentary,  82,  100,  174 
Sacraments,  Nature  of,  185,  303 
Sacrifice,  177-180 
Sadler,  Preb.,  viii,  170,  282,  384 
Salisbury,  85-87,  99,  101,  174,  284, 

293.  3i2>  337,  338,  348,  396,  402, 

403,  408 
Salutation,  Mutual,  261 
Sanctus,  60,  64,  67,  173,  352 
Sandals,  405 
Sanderson,  Bp.,  359 
Sarapion,  Bp.,  58,  61,  394 


Sarum,  see  Salisbury 

Savoy  Conference,  3,  115,  117,  118 

Saxons,  74,  82 

Schiller,  411 

Schism,  267 

Scotland  and  Scots,  70,  74,  75 
Scottish  Church,  6,  84,  120-134,  380 
Scottish  Prayer  Book,  21,  35,  104, 
120-134,  Hl»  150*  156,  158,  160, 
163,  169,  174,  175,  177,  179,  196, 
199,  220,  263,  315,  317,  326,  334, 

339,  340,  346,  353,  357 
Scudamore,  35,  139,  145,  155,  156, 

167,  169,  197,  274,  279 
Seabury,  Bp.,  6,  122-125,  *76>  275 
Seal  and  Sealing,  307 
Seeker,  Archbp.,  170 
Second  Prayer  Book  of  Edward  VI, 

109-113 
Seer  eta,  144 
Selab,  16 
Selden,  325 

Self-examination,  142,  191 
Seneca,  327 
Sentences,  205 
Sepulchre,  Holy,  55 
Septuagint,  Greek,  27,  211,  217 
Sequence,  351-353 
Seraphic  Hymn,  173 
Sermon,  158 

Sermon  on  Mount,  44,  159 
Servia,  59 

Seven  Hours,  203,  204 

Seven  Words,  210 

"Seventy  Disciples,"  366,  369 

Severn,  75 

Sext,  203,  204 

Shairp,  Prof.,  381 

Shakespeare,  127,  137,  352 

Shaxton,  Bp.,  95,  96 

Sheldon,  Bp.,  115 

Shema,  16,  141 

Sicily,  73 

Silvia,  or  Etheria,  55,  137 
Sinclair,  Archdeacon,  no 
St  quis,  402 
Slavonic,  59,  73 
Smith,  J.  B.,  398 


INDEX 


423 


Smith,  Dr.  Wm.,  124 

Smyrna,  374,  376 

Socinian,  II,  384 

Socrates,  Historian,  221,  230 

"  Solemn  League  and  Covenant,"  115 

Somerset,  Duke  of,  102,  109,  no 

Song  of  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  241 

Song  of  Simeon,  242,  244 

Song  of  Zacharias,  240 

South  Carolina,  226,  230 

Spain,  70,  78 

Spurgeon,  229,  383 

Stanley,  Dean,  214 

State  Services,  361 

Sternhold  and  Hopkins,  233 

Stigand,  Archbp.,  92 

Stokes,  Prof.,  George,  76,  380 

Stole,  402,  403,  405 

Stubbs,  Bp.,  40,  74,  90,  93 

Succat,  75 

Sunday,  48,  142 

Supplications  in  Litany,  266 

Sursum  Corda,  60,  67,  171,  173 

Symbol,  245 

Synagogue,  8,  13,  14,  36,  41-45 
Syrian  Liturgy,  57,  58,  66 
Switzerland,  383,  384,  388 

Table,  Holy,  40,  54,  112,  125,  138 

Table  of  Liturgies,  68,  133 

Tacitus,  71 

Taine,  220 

Tait,  Arcbp.,  249 

Tallis,  233 

Talmud,  160 

Tate  and  Brady,  233 

Taylor,  Bp.  Jeremy,  115,  128,  177, 

f(  336,  345 

"Tee-ay"  Council,  252 
Te  Deum,  237,  256,  362 
Temple,  8,  13,  14,  15,  20,  24,  36,  39, 

41-45,  141,  173,  200,  201,  278,  374 
Tennyson,  148,  331 
Tersanctus,  see  Sanctus 
Tertullian,  47,  54,  287,  307,  336 
Testament  of  our  Lord,  263 
Thanksgiving  Day,  208,  359,  377, 

378 


Theodore,  Archbp.,  84 

Theodoric,  150 

Thomas,  Lit.  of  Saint,  57,  66 

Tierce,  203,  204 

Tithes,  159 

Titlepage,  4,  102,  125-129 
Todd,  Dr.,  380 
Toledo,  81,  254 

"Tongue   not   understanded,"  72, 

73,  107,  167 
Tonstal,  Bp.,  95 

Traditio  Instrumentorum,  390,  396 
Traditores,  52 
Trajan,  33,  47,  230 
Transfiguration,  150 
Translations,  93,  95,  146-148,  150 
Transubstantiation,  123,  185 
Treitschke,  384 

Trent,  Council  of,  34,  232,  299,  404, 

405 
Triest,  67 

Trisagion,  see  Sanctus 
Triumphal  Hymn,  67 
Troperium,  100 
Troyes,  79 
Trypho,  45 

"Tulchan"  Bishops,  121 
Tunic,  405 
Tyre,  42 
Twysden,  148 

Unction,  307,  312,  343 
Unitarian,  10,  n 

United  States  Report  on  Marriage, 
328 

Unleavened  Bread,  161,  162 
"Unworthiness  of  Ministers,"  387 
"Upper  Room,"  38 
"Use,"  5 

Vandals,  150 
Vedas,  220 
"Veil,"  64 

Veni  Creator  Spiritus,  157,  207,  254, 

309,  403,  405,  411 
Venite,  208,  217,  360,  361 
Vernacular,  see  Vulgar  Tongue 
Vespers,  200,  203,  241 


424 


INDEX 


Vestments,  273-275 
Vicar,  301 

Victoria,  Queen,  336,  361 
Victricius,  79,  256 
Vienne,  77,  264 
Visitation  of  Sick,  341-348 
Vulgar  Tongue,  59,  71-74,  107 
Vulgate,  93,  196,  217,  350 

Wafer  Bread,  see  Unleavened 
Bread 

Wakeman,  H.  0.,  93,  118,  279 

Wales,  71,  74,  79,  82,  85,  86,  103 

Wall,  Wm.,  290,  291 

Ward,  W.  P.,  201 

Wardens,  see  Churchwardens 

"Warnings,"  164,  165 

Warren,  Canon,  19,  33,  42,  45,  54, 

61,  71,  73,  76-78,  80,  85,  141,  157, 

158,  162,  173 
Washington,  125,  314 
Wasserschleben,  381 
Waterland,  256 
Watkins,  0.  D.,  323 
Watts,  Dr.,  234 
Wesleys,  196,  234 
Westminster,  no,  267 
Westminster  Assembly,  5,  115,  298 


Westminster  Confession,  246,  325, 

328 
Whitby,  76 

White,  Bp.,  123-125,  176 
White,  Dr.  E.  A.,  276 
Whithern,  79 
Wicliffe,  92,  93 
Wilberforce,  Bp.,  166,  315 
Wilfrid,  Bp.,  92 
Wilkins,  95 

Williams,  Bp.  John,  125 
Williams,  Isaac,  151,  235,  262 
William  the  Conqueror,  85,  90 
William  III,  122,  126 
Winchester,  89,  399,  403,  404 
Wine  in  Holy  Communion,  160 
Wirgman,  Archdeacon,  328 
Wittenberg,  327 
Wolsey,  94,  407 

Wordsworth,  Bp.  Christopher,  45, 192 
Wren,  Bp.,  121,  270 
Wykeham,  Bp.,  89 

York,  71,  84,  86,  95,  101,  309,  336, 
337,  348 

Zacharias,  240,  278 
Zwingli,  114,  186,  382,  388 


THE-PLIMPTON. PRESS 
NOKWOOD-MASS-U-S'A 


Ill 

1 1012  01032  5423 


